


Return to the Past, NOW! Finale

by HunterMoebius, TeenLyokoFan7777



Series: Return to the Past, NOW [2]
Category: Code Lyoko
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Tragedy, Angst with a Happy Ending, Assembly, Co-Written, Coma, Drama, F/M, Family Reunions, Fight for Honor, Gen, I'm Bad At Tagging, Major Original Character(s), Past Lives, Shipper on Deck, Supernatural Elements, The Lyoko Warriors need hugs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-12
Updated: 2017-02-26
Packaged: 2018-09-23 22:08:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 122,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9681302
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HunterMoebius/pseuds/HunterMoebius, https://archiveofourown.org/users/TeenLyokoFan7777/pseuds/TeenLyokoFan7777
Summary: The secret's out, and X.A.N.A.'s got a few more tricks up his sleeves. One girl gets caught right in the middle of it all, only to realize things are nothing like she expected. With X.A.N.A.'s days dwindling, is everyone's superhero status assured in more ways than one? New allies will be found, questions will be answered, and X.A.N.A. will finally fall, in the ultimate conclusion to Return to the Past, NOW!





	1. Vortex Day and Angst at the Hospital

**Author's Note:**

> I caught this off a Sheltered Reality song, but I replaced ONE word.
> 
> Don’t own Code Lyoko or Kaitlyn Belpois. You know the drill. This was a collaborative effort between Hunter Moebius and me. Thank you so much.  
> 
> There’s no way to escape…VORTEX DAY!
> 
> The Night before ALL HELL ripped through the Code Lyoko Space-Time Continuum

 

A bespectacled brown haired girl, staggering and droopy-eyed under an armful of stuffed animals, shuffled towards Jeremie Belpois's dorm. Usually, boys and girls weren’t allowed to frequent each other’s floors after lights-out, but on this particular night, Cassidy René McGuire was subconsciously breaking that rule.

Jim had told her, Aelita, and the boys about it, but it confused them. She tried to run it through her brain as often as she could for reminders, but sometimes it slipped.

Carefully opening the door, she tottered into the room. She found Jeremie typing away at his computer, as usual, not even aware of his visitor and friend. Even the sound she made as she closed the door failed to disturb the blond genius.

She even went as far as to place her glasses on his table, near his computer, yet his eyes remained transfixed on its monitor, despite the dark circles underneath, and veins of blood that overtook, his eyes. Having failed to alert the bespectacled blond to her arrival, Cassidy soon dropped her pillow and stuffed animals onto the floor, following them only a second later, before covering herself with her blanket.

Despite all the commotion happening behind him, the young genius kept typing, completely absorbed in his work. His mind only filled itself with constant thoughts of XANA. The A.I. had to be destroyed before he could take over the world with an army of robots and computers from all across the globe. Jeremie couldn’t afford to fail; to do so would be at the cost of the entire world.

 _Can’t fail… Have to beat,_ he thought absently, his tired mind subconsciously creating incoherent sentences.

Cassidy’s eyes slid closed, the girl falling into a deep, sound sleep, while Jeremie continued to work furiously, forcing his eyes to stay open, and his fingers to fly across his keyboard with blinding speed.

But what the two teens didn’t realize, was that the next day was going to be completely different than anything they could have ever planned, or even fathomed.

Cassidy woke the next morning with a start, her mind unusually alert. Rising to a sitting position, she grabbed her glasses and fumbled with them for a moment, before finally managing to get them on. Her vision now cleared, the girl glanced around, finding her surroundings had drastically changed, as shock crossed her features.

“Oh, no,” she squeaked, before coming to a startling realization.

Little did she know that those two words would be the last she would say, that day.

“What’s wrong?” Jeremie, for the first time in over eight hours, stopped his typing and turned around in his chair, before getting a shock of his own. As his eyes beheld Cassidy sitting on the floor, looking as though a murder had been committed in front of her, surprise filled his entire being. It took him only a few moments to regain his composure. “C-Cassidy?! What are you doing here?! Weren’t you with Aelita and Kaitlyn last night?!”

Cassidy went to reply, but as she opened her mouth, she suddenly found herself unable to speak. She continued making various faces, pushing her larynx to vibrate, all without success. Scared, yet undeterred, she reached for a pen and a piece of paper, and began to write in a messy scrawl:

_Jeremie,_

_I don’t know! I remember I was with Aelita and Kaitlyn; after that…nothing. I don’t know how I got here. Oh…why didn’t I listen to her when she first told me I was sleepwalking, and why didn’t I listen to Jim when he warned me not to do so again…?!_

After scribbling a paragraph’s worth, Jeremie placed his hand upon hers, stopping her so he could read what she wrote. His eyes went back and forth as he scanned the note for a few seconds, then he looked up at her, his facial expression unchanging. “So you don’t remember how you got here?”

Cassidy resumed her writing, her pen scratching the paper:

_No, I don’t, sadly._

“Why can’t you speak?” was his next question.

Her expression turned sarcastic, as she rolled her eyes, before quickly scrawling:

 _My voice hitched a flight to three countries in three separate continents; Venezuela, Chad, and Perth, and left me behind._ No, what does it look like?! _And wouldn’t you know it, my voice is holding itself for ransom!_

Jeremie frowned, raising an eyebrow. She didn’t miss a beat, even if she had lost her voice. “Ha, ha; very funny. Now tell me the truth.”

In reply, she scribbled:

_All I did was say “Oh, no…” and I lost my voice! It just…disappeared._

A concerned look appeared on Jeremie’s face. “I’ll call the others. Odd, Ulrich, Patrick, Yumi, and Kaitlyn should be at breakfast, and Aelita’s either in her room, or in the showers.”

Cassidy’s eyes widened, a combination of surprise and anger overtaking her face, as she crumpled the paper, threw it at his head and grabbed a clean sheet. Then she scowled and wrote:

JEREMIE ELVIS/ALBERT BELPOIS!! _Do you_ SPY ON HER?!

“What?! No! I don’t do that!” Jeremie protested, his eyebrows and eyes almost reaching his hairline. “Aelita told me!”

Relieved, she gave a small smile. Even if she had lost her voice, Cassidy was still perfectly capable of conveying emotion. She penned:

_If I hear that you’ve been spying on her, I’ll see to it that Yumi kicks you into next Sunday for all I care._

Jeremie didn’t appear to like being threatened, but he knew that she had her reasons for doing so. He nodded as he got out his mobile, typing the first number he could think of.

“Ulrich, it’s Jeremie!” A pause followed as Jeremie listened intently, then continued. “We have a problem! I don’t know how, but Cassidy lost her voice, and now she has to write to communicate. The worst part is, she slept in my room, and didn’t even tell me, beforehand!”

Ulrich’s next reply caused a blush to appear on Jeremie’s face. “I didn’t even know she _was_ in my room! She said—uh, wrote, that she might have sleepwalked to my dorm.”

He covered the cell phone, and mouthed to the voiceless girl, “Text Ulrich.”

Cassidy nodded. She slipped her own mobile out of her front pocket and texted:

_Ulrich,_

_I didn’t know what happened last night after crawling into bed. I don’t have any memory of what happened after that, either._

_C_

She gave the genius a thumbs-up, after sending the text.

He nodded in response, before removing his hand from his phone. “Ulrich, Cassidy just sent you a text.”

Cassidy blinked as she overheard Ulrich’s voice from Jeremie’s phone, _“She’d better not have sent a fake text!”_

She rolled her eyes and turned back to her mobile, quickly texting in reply:

_U,_

_I’m not sending you a fake text._

_C_

After pressing a button to send it, she let her left hand drop idly into her lap. She sighed in silent annoyance, before writing:

_If only I could still use my vocal chords..._

“Meet me in my room, okay?” Jeremie continued, sighing in relief before he and Ulrich hung up. His attention then turned back to the brunette. “Cassidy, do you need anything?”

Cassidy detected a prominent note of concern in his voice, which made her smile gratefully. Whatever her needs might be, he seemed ready to help. She scrawled again, this time, in Spanish:

_Necesito ayuda para recuperar mi voz..._

She then wrote out the English translation, even though she had tutored Jeremie, and the others, endlessly on the linguistics of the language:

_I need help to get my voice back…_

Jeremie read the note and then nodded. “I understand.”

This was more stressful than she could’ve imagined; being unable to speak unnerved her greatly. She sighed wistfully, longing for a hug, but refrained. She knew Jeremie wasn’t the best with such gestures, if his reactions to Aelita’s sudden displays of affection were anything to go by. If she had gotten a hug from him, and Ulrich and the others happened to walk in on them, she assumed they would be understanding, especially since they knew she and Odd were faithful to each other, and she wouldn’t knowingly do anything to jeopardize that. Even when she dated William, she stayed as true to him until he broke up with her on false charges.

“Just try to calm down while I get you something to do,” Jeremie instructed, as he walked through the door of his dorm room.

As Jeremie left the room, Cassidy made another attempt to force any kind of noise out of her vocal chords, but nothing came. Her eyes began to water. _This is the worst day since the time I fell into the digital sea with Aelita,_ she thought to herself.

Closing her eyes, a few minutes passed in silence as she tried to calm herself down. She was in the middle of taking deep breaths when she heard footsteps and a jumble of voices from the hallway. Ulrich Stern stepped into the room first, with the rest of the group following after.

He walked up to Cassidy, before lowering himself to her level. A concerned look crossed his features as he surveyed the brunette. “You sure you can’t say anything, Cassidy?”

For his sake, she made her best attempt to get her vocal chords working, but only a whoosh of air came out of her mouth. She couldn’t even manage to utter a whisper or a squeak. She gave a sheepish pout, before writing on her hand in tiny lettering, _Sorry, Ulrich._

Ulrich merely frowned, surprised that she suddenly found herself unable to speak, regardless of the description Jeremie gave him over the phone.

Aelita and Kaitlyn soon joined the German-named boy, bearing their own concerned expressions, before they began patting their roommate’s shoulders comfortingly, as Ulrich caressed her back.

Aelita was next to inquire about Cassidy’s condition. “Do you remember overworking your vocal chords?”

Shaking her head, Cassidy grabbed the same piece of paper and penned:

_Not even one of my infamous battle cries._

“What about shouting?” Then it was Odd’s turn, the wildcard frowning in confusion.

 _Not since I shouted at William for not following protocol,_ Cassidy scrawled in reply.

“Do you remember… screaming at all?” Jeremie crossed his arms, adding his own to the mix of questions.

She slumped forward, trying to convey her frustration through her body language. She shook her head again and wrote:

_Not since he threw Aelita and me into the digital sea, while under XANA’s control._

“Maybe you were singing too much?” Ulrich wondered aloud, raising his left index finger.

 _Not since the Subdigitals Concert when Aelita and I were the DJs,_ Cassidy scribbled.

“So she hasn’t been overworking her voice at all,” Jeremie realized, his eyes widening in surprise and fear.

“Do you think it could be XANA?” Aelita asked, her voice betraying her concern.

“I’ll check.” Jeremie replied, as he hurried over to his computer. With a few taps on the keyboard, he started up the Super-Scan, as the others gathered around him. As the atmosphere became quieter and tenser, Cassidy suddenly realized she could acutely pick up on the anxious moods of her friends as they all watched the progress of the scan.

After a few long moments, however, the Super-Scan returned a result Jeremie was neither expecting, nor wanting.

“Nothing!” Jeremie shouted, slamming his fist on his desk, next to the side of the keyboard. “XANA must be hiding—”

Before he could finish his sentence, he was interrupted by Odd, whose eyes quickly zoomed toward Cassidy’s, finding something eerily wrong with them.

“Uh…Einstein?” he cried out, his entire body beginning to shake with fright. “Cassidy’s eyes are going white!”

“That’s not a good thing!” Jeremie fought to veil his own fear, as he knelt down beside her, before backhanding her across her face, in one quick motion.

Unlike every other time, where one whack to any part of her head would bring her back to normal in an instant, this one seemed to have no effect. Instead, Cassidy’s pupils continued to shrink, and her eyes now shone a pure, eerie white. With calm decisiveness, Jeremie tried again; however his second attempt yielded no change, much to the disappointment and fear of everyone in the room.

“No, Cassidy!” Yumi yelled, staring at her Savior, horrified. “Don’t let it control you! Snap out of—”

She tried to regain control of her body, quickly moving her pen-holding hand down toward the paper, but her movements began to slow considerably. Before the ink could touch the paper, she completely lost control of her arms, as they slumped to her sides.

Along with her sudden loss of control, the ground soon began to shake and rumble, as if an earthquake had suddenly appeared. Everyone in the room began to tremble uncontrollably, with the notable exception of Cassidy, who almost seemed frozen in place.

“N-now... w-w-what, EIN-S-S-STEIN!” Odd tried to reply, his words bouncing around unsteadily like kids on a trampoline.

“How sh-sh-should I know?!” Jeremie stuttered, equally confused.

Before Odd could reply, his eyes suddenly noticed a large crack slowly carving itself out of the floor. Confused, yet finding himself unable to speak, he watched the crack snake across the floor, before running up the wall, and connecting with a similar crack on the ceiling. Instantly, a chunk of the dorm broke apart from the rest of the room, before disappearing in a burst of light.

Everyone gasped and stood immobilized in shock, as they watched. In the background, Cassidy, now physically and mentally incognizant, suddenly stood up. As she rose to her feet, she stretched her arms outward, spread-eagle, as if she were being virtualized onto Lyoko, before great gusts of wind whipped up, seemingly from out of nowhere, and converged around her.

“Jeremie!” Aelita asked, fear greatly overtaking her voice as she raised her arms, reaching for something to grab onto. “What’s going to happen to us?!”

“I d-don’t know…” Jeremie’s reply sounded grim, as he glanced all around the room, finding himself incredibly powerless, and unable to devise a solution.

Aelita wrapped her arms tightly around her knight in glasses, clinging to him for dear life, as tears began to slowly fill her closed eyes. Anyone could tell how scared out of her mind she was.

Nearby, Ulrich folded his arms, as if his body was cold, and he was trying to warm himself up. Fear filled his expression, no matter how he tried to hide it. _You’re not the only one, Princess,_ he thought to himself as he surveyed her face, immediately understanding the reason behind it. He felt exactly the same way, even if he wouldn’t admit it.

Yumi, like Ulrich, also refused to show how much she was afraid of the current situation, yet found it increasingly more and more difficult to do so. Her gaze turned toward her brown-haired boyfriend, before trying her hardest to approach him, amid the constantly quaking environment, and wrap her arms around him, to give him comfort. Ulrich’s eyes widened, as he glanced up at his beloved, who gave him a calm, borderline neutral glance, one which he took as reassurance, since his mind refused to let him react in his normal manner.

 _No matter how scared we are,_ she thought to herself, _we’ll get through this!_

Nearby, Odd glanced over at his friends, watching how they huddled near each other, out of terror. He soon made his way toward them, not even trying to disguise his fear, and huddled close to Ulrich and Yumi. The two immediately turned their gazes on him, and without any words whatsoever, wrapped their arms around him, as well. Had these been any other circumstances, they might have had something to say to him, out of jest. But these weren’t ordinary, and no matter what any of them felt, they all needed reassurance that they were there for each other, no matter how crazy anything got.

 _What’s gonna happen to us?_ Odd wondered, fearfully. _What’s gonna happen to Cat Girl?_

Jeremie looked down at his pink-haired beloved, wishing that he could do something to soothe her fear, had he not been equally terrified. To that end, he glanced at his three friends grouped together in a comfort huddle. He turned his attention down toward Aelita, before softly rubbing her back, a successful attempt to get her to open her eyes. His eyes meeting hers, he felt a painful sensation join the fear within him, as he realized he hated seeing her like this, especially when he felt as though there was nothing he could do to change the situation. All he could do was gesture with his face, toward the others.

She slowly turned her head, before beholding Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi in a group comfort huddle, and agreed with Jeremie’s silent question. The two then began to slowly shuffle toward the three, soon joining them, as Jeremie’s and Aelita’s arms were met with Ulrich’s, Yumi’s, and Odd’s, warmly accepting the two geniuses into their comfort huddle.

 _I feel so powerless,_ Jeremie’s mind lamented, fearfully and disappointedly. _I’ve never been so scared in my entire life…_

As Jeremie and Aelita were assimilated into the group comfort huddle, Odd and Yumi immediately began searching for Kaitlyn and Patrick, hoping that they hadn’t been lost in the sudden destruction of Jeremie’s dorm. Once their eyes had finally settled on the two, they immediately waved them over.

 _What are you waiting for, huh?_ Yumi wondered. _You two are a part of our group! Get over here!_

Kaitlyn and Patrick didn’t see Yumi’s and Odd’s gestures, right away; they had found places to sit upon Jeremie’s bed, trying to figure out what exactly was going on. They hadn’t known Cassidy as well as the others did, so they were at a loss for what to do.

As the two turned to look at each other, surprise and fear plastered across their faces, a high voice broke through the loud, gusting winds.

“C’MON, YOU TWO! HURRY UP!”

Their eyes widened, as their heads quickly snapped in the direction of the voice. It turned out to be Yumi, as she and Odd desperately gestured to them to join their group huddle, with looks of fear and determination painting their faces.

“YOU’RE PART OF OUR GROUP, TOO! WE’RE NOT LEAVING YOU BEHIND!” Jeremie found himself shouting.

This was all it took. Patrick and Kaitlyn immediately leaped to their feet, sharing another glance, before immediately running toward the group of five. Instantly, as they approached their friends, arms were extended in their direction, welcoming them into the comforting huddle.

 _One girl was capable of all this?!_ Kaitlyn found herself thinking.

 _Wow… she’s a mystery, that’s for sure,_ Patrick’s thoughts echoed throughout his mind.

In Ulrich and Odd’s room, Kiwi scratched at the door, barking madly. He hated earthquakes, as they were deeply distressing reminders of when he and Odd had gone to California. As the earthquakes showed no signs of stopping, Kiwi soon realized that he couldn’t take it anymore, and let out a gut-wrenching howl, before covering his head with his paws. If Cassidy had been within range to hear his thoughts, she would have heard him yell in his mind, _NO! NO! NO! STOP IT! STOP IT!_

Back in Jeremie’s room, he and the others remained huddled together, as Yumi and Ulrich pulled each other closer, their eyes squeezed shut, and Jeremie and Aelita locked in a similar gesture. Odd, Patrick, and Kaitlyn stared, wide eyed with gaping mouths, through the grid of loving, interlocking arms at Cassidy, who remained in the same state, even as the winds intensified to nearly deafening levels. It was at this point that Odd happened to notice another large crack snaking its way across the remains of Jeremie’s room’s floor. His eyes continued to follow the phenomenon, all the while finding himself unable to alert the others to its appearance. The crack soon completed a circuit along the remains of his room’s ceiling, before another piece of it broke apart, and vanished before their eyes soon after, leaving behind nothing but the open, blue sky.

“This has XANA written all over it!” Odd shouted.

“But I told you that I couldn't find any activated towers!” Jeremie protested as loud as his voice would allow.

“What if he found a way to mess with the super-scan, again?!” Yumi suggested, in a similar tone.

“It doesn’t matter!” The ninja-turned-cat-boy wailed, becoming more and more dispirited as he clung to Yumi. “It’s all over! We’re going to be sucked out of the room, fall into a black hole, and shot out of the solar system, to a series of planets several trillion light years away, inhabited only by the monsters created from humans by Doctor Shrank!”

While Odd continued to lose hope, Aelita suddenly opened her eyes, and noticed something strange happening out of their corners. On the floor nearby, several holes slowly began to open up all around them. Her eyes continued to bounce around, zooming toward each new hole as she discovered them, while wondering what it could all mean.

Suddenly, a bigger hole opened up in front of the friends’ huddle, enabling Aelita to get a closer look. Within, a blinding combination of pink, purple, and black beams of light all swirled into a type of vortex.

“Look, Jeremie!” she cried out, her voice tinged with fear as she extended one finger in its direction.

Jeremie’s eyes widened, as he let out a terrified yell. “Oh, no!”

At the blond genius’ exclamation, Odd’s eyes soon found the hole, as well.

“This is it!” he screamed. “It’s the vortex of doom! It’s gonna suck the whole floor out from under our feet, and then suck us in, too!”

Suddenly, a thought hit him. “Unless… what if I give it something to suck in, _instead_ of us?”

Quickly, his eyes scanned the remains of Jeremie’s dorm room, hoping to find an object that could be used in their place. He didn’t have to look far, as he soon happened upon Cassidy’s green stuffed bunny, Hippity, atop the pile of her stuffed animals.

The wildcard quickly ducked underneath the interlocking arms of his caring, adoring friends, amid their protests, and bolted toward the pile of stuffed animals, to retrieve the bunny. His next stop was the biggest hole, as he knelt down by it, stretching out his arms, hovering Hippity over the gaping opening by one of its ears.

“Please, please, _please_ don’t suck us in! We are merely mortals meant for this world, as we call it home! Please have mercy on our souls, set our friend free, rebuild our Einstein's room, as I, Odd Thomas Della Robbia, drop this sacrifice for your appeasement!”

With that, Odd’s fingers released the stuffed bunny rabbit, which slowly sailed through the hole, gradually picking up speed, before landing within the vortex, all without making a single noise. Now all he could do was wait, and hope the strange phenomenon obeyed his wishes.

Nearby, Yumi glanced around the heads of her loving friends, dumbfounded by Odd’s actions.

“Odd!” she cried out. “What are you doing?! It’s not even a living being!”

“Well, I’m not sacrificing Kiwi, or myself either! And I won’t dare sacrifice any of you!” Odd shouted, as he spun his head around to face her, his face still stricken with fear.

It wasn’t long before Odd received his reply, and it turned out to be the exact opposite of what he was expecting. Without any warning, the furry object whizzed back up and landed neatly into Odd’s hovering hands, quickly receiving his attention. The wildcard was immediately flabbergasted by this, and quickly threw the bunny back toward Cassidy’s pile of other stuffed animals.

“THE GODS ARE ANGRY AT US!” he screamed in terror, his voice nearly reaching the top of his lungs.

His fear now reaching dramatic levels, he jumped to his feet, and began to frantically race toward Jeremie’s dorm room door, in a similar manner to Cassidy’s attempts to escape XANA-William in the Siberian lab. As he neared the door, his left hand thrusting out to grab the handle, it soon vanished, before he could grab it. Every hair on his body stood up on end, as he gazed through the opening where the door and its frame originally stood, causing the boy to scream once more. The fear soon made its way to every muscle in his body, impairing them with a form of temporary paralysis, moments before Jeremie and Aelita raced toward him, fighting the earthquake and damaging winds, to drag the wildcard back into the safety of the warm, comforting huddle.

Mere moments after Odd was surrounded by his loving, caring best friends once more, the howling winds and terrifying earthquakes suddenly reached a fever pitch. The seven huddled together, their collective fear intensifying, as the rest of the floor began to crumble, and fall apart all around them.

With one final shake, the last remaining portion of Jeremie’s dorm room, a piece of floor that held the seven friends, vanished away.

However, before any of them could realize they were now floating in midair, the winds continued, before the blinding pink, purple and black beams of light began to grow closer, and closer. The seven all squeezed their eyes shut, wincing and gritting their teeth, as the loud winds threatened to destroy their eardrums. Worried, shaking noises erupted from Odd’s, Ulrich’s, and Jeremie’s respective mouths, as the vortex began to slowly close in on the friends, the beams of light growing brighter and brighter behind their collective eyelids.

The next thing they knew, a whooshing sound, slightly louder than that of the howling winds, if such a thing were even possible, shattered through the gusts, bringing their surroundings to an eerie silence.

The seven slowly opened their eyes, their ears ringing from the sudden change in the ambient noise level, finding near complete darkness surrounding them; strangely, they could still see each other, as though each was illuminated by a hidden, ambient light. They looked around at their new surroundings, curiosity and confusion soon joining their fear, as they wondered what had happened.

Suddenly, a soft, feminine, raspy voice echoed through the silence, startling the friends. “The truth…”

“Who’s there?!” Jeremie’s voice trembled and shook, as his eyes quickly darted back and forth, determined to find the source of the voice. In an act of brilliance, displaying why he was known as the genius of the group, he turned a fearful, awe-filled gaze on Cassidy, who was in the same statuesque pose and state she had been in, prior to their arrival in the darkness, yet also illuminated in the same manner as them. Could she have said that?

He found his theory was quickly proven correct, as the psychic brunette repeated her previous utterance, gasping and breathing heavily between words. “The truth…must be… **REVEALED!** ”

Her eyes immediately shot open, the eerie, milky white color of her irises supernaturally illuminated from behind, scaring the seven even further, while her breath rasped, as though she’d been stranded in the Sahara Desert for days.

“The truth? What truth?” Jeremie cried out in surprise, the fear further overtaking his voice.

His eyes quickly darted back and forth across his friends and cousins, hoping they were somehow more informed than he was, but they all shrugged, finding themselves as much in the dark as he was.

Cassidy interrupted the start of a panic attack and imperiously announced in a voice unlike her own, **“The former lives will be revealed! This revelation should show…purpose.”**

She suddenly fell silent.

Everyone gulped. In a nightmare-like scenario they’d never, ever wanted to confront, Cassidy had been taken over by her own dangerous power.

“What do we do, Jeremie?!” Aelita tightened her grip around Jeremie and the others for comfort. “This is the first time that C—”

Before she could finish her sentence, a bright flash, accompanied by a loud whoosh, sounding almost as though the gusty winds were about to return, rang out, causing the pink-haired princess and her knight in glasses to wince. Turning around, the seven saw a bright light had mysteriously manifested itself in the center of the vortex. The seven stared in awe and curiosity, as Aelita’s grip around her six best friends tightened further.

As the seven gawked, transfixed, at the bright light, a familiar face soon appeared within, as a voice, belonging to a certain well-regarded member of the group, filled everyone’s ears.

 _“Diary of Jeremie Belpois,”_ the voice began. To everyone’s—especially the genius’s—shock, the familiar face was none other than a younger Jeremie, who could be seen grabbing a file on his computer. _“Kadic Academy 8 th Grade Student—October 9th.”_

“That was the day you discovered the supercomputer,” Aelita whispered in shock, recognizing the date the younger Jeremie mentioned.

_“A few weeks ago, I was searching for parts for my miniature robots. I couldn’t find anything here—”_

“Where was here, Jeremie?” Odd spoke up, mysteriously causing the video to pause at nearly the exact moment he spoke.

“At the school,” Jeremie clarified. “That day, Cassidy gave me some advice. ‘If you need some supplies, go to the factory at night,’ she told me. And if I was near a supercomputer, and I asked, ‘Artificial Intelligence, are you there,’ or something like that, and the A.I. asked me to call it a different name, I should call it—”

“My name,” Aelita whispered, finishing his sentence, before raising her voice to its normal level. “But something about this video footage looks and feels different. I just don’t know what it is.”

She studied it intensely for a few seconds, but to her apparent chagrin, she found nothing of note.

“The first piece of advice that Cassidy gave me,” Ulrich mentioned with a gulp, “was that I would soon have a roommate named Odd, and I didn’t believe her until Odd came into the science room.”

Odd sighed. “The first time she talked to me, well... I was talking to Ulrich about Sissi, and she said there were way more girls there, than just her.”

A few moments after Odd finished talking, the video footage suddenly resumed playing. It now showed a younger, more inexperienced Jeremie slowly approaching the Supercomputer, hesitating for a moment, and turning it on. In the present, the boy in question gaped in disbelief at the actions of his past self.

The present Odd raised an eyebrow up to his hairline. “Jeremie, any advice is totally welcome!”

The blond genius in the present, however, was speechless.

They all continued watching, unable to pull their eyes away from the screen, as sequence through sequence continued to play. Before long, it had advanced to the first class of that day. After a few seconds of the video had played, Aelita’s voice suddenly cut through the tentative quiet that had filled the room, noticing a glaring omission.

“Cassidy’s not there!” she cried out, surprise contorting her face, and widening her eyes.

Scene after scene played, in seemingly chronological order, as their escapades, classes, and detentions were shown in full, vivid color. As the others continued to watch, in shock, amazement, and awe, they found Aelita’s observation had been proven to be only too true. Their eyes beheld each of their adventures, from the gigantic teddy bear, Jeremie’s Marabounta, to William’s eventual XANA possession, and assimilation into the malevolent multi-agent system’s army, only without any trace of Cassidy. It was as if they were being shown an alternate version of what they supposed had been their reality, for the last two years; the seven were surprised to find that, instead of William dating Cassidy, he tried to woo Yumi, much to Ulrich’s jealousy; that Yumi fell into the Digital Sea, only to be revived by Jeremie’s one-shot materialization program, instead of the psychic brunette; and rather than the normally brown-eyed girl being subjected to sharp, pointy beaks all across her body, it was the raven-haired Japanese girl. They were even surprised to find that, rather than negotiating with Cassidy, as they had remembered, XANA had instead locked Odd in a storm drain by the Hermitage, the week before the End of the Year Dance. Ulrich’s eyes widened, as he relived who he thought was Odd, transforming into the orange and black clone of himself, before his eyes.

Perhaps the scariest, and most surprising moment of all, especially to Aelita, was the sacrifice of her father to fuel Jeremie’s multi-agent program, utterly obliterating the malicious A.I. once and for all. She immediately felt her knees grow weak, tears welling in her eyes. This was the premonition she had this morning! Why wasn’t it different when her first roommate lost her voice? Was it due to come true somewhere else?

After the seven watched XANA’s total and complete destruction, they soon found their past selves in front of the supercomputer, once more, as Jeremie turned off the system, before it rescinded into the floor. Moments after the supercomputer was shut down, the screen went black. Another video quickly replaced it, and the screen didn’t stay black for long. The next thing they saw was their past selves in the forest, joyously celebrating their victory.

They watched the Yumi on the screen walk through the woods leading to the Academy. She smiled with satisfaction, her face barely able to contain her happiness.

“Well, good-bye XANA, hello, FREEDOM!”

The present gang saw the past Odd nod in reply, moments before the current one broke from the huddle, swimming closer to the one on the screen, as though he was still on the International Space Station with Cassidy and Yumi. He gazed in awe, and wonder, at the version of himself in the video.

“Is that me?” He whispered, his voice piquing with wonder, and his eyes filling to the brim with warm tears, as though he found himself remembering his old self and all of his happy memories. “Is that truly me?”

Jeremie, in the present, shrugged. He still found himself at a loss for words. It was almost as if the entire situation was overloading him.

While he struggled to find some way to react at all, the Warriors’ collective eyes suddenly widened, in shock, as their eyes beheld a massive Return to the Past blanketing the entire world. After a few seconds had passed, they suddenly found themselves face-to-face with a familiar psychic brunette, wearing her previous tiger-patterned outfit, standing in front of the gates to Kadic Academy, by herself.

“Wait,” Ulrich spoke up, confused. “That’s Cassidy! Does that mean that this thing is showing our—”

Before he could finish his sentence, Aelita quickly raised her index finger to her lips, shushing the samurai.

The eight watched, transfixed, as a summary of every adventure they had had, now with the additions of Cassidy, Kaitlyn, and Patrick, flashed before their eyes, like a virtual history lesson. It was after the end of their final adventure, one that was still quite fresh on their minds, that something terrible happened.

Upon the completion of the reel, Cassidy’s eyes slowly closed, moments before the psychic suddenly fell forward, her head nearly slamming into her pillow, accompanied by a soft moan escaping her lips, as the floor brought her to a complete stop. Everyone’s gazes immediately turned on her, in horror.

“Cassidy?!” Jeremie cried, as he left the sanctuary of his friends’ comforting huddle, and rushed toward her.

Kneeling by her side, he quickly pressed his middle and ring fingers against her wrist, desperately checking for a pulse, not even noticing his computer, robots, electronics and the walls of his dorm gradually reappearing all around him, his friends, and cousins, as if nothing had happened. Fear crossed the collective features of Yumi, Ulrich, Odd, Patrick, Kaitlyn, and Aelita as they stared at the two, worriedly.

“Is… is she going to be okay?” Yumi and Kaitlyn asked, their faces pale and ashen, their bodies shaking.

Jeremie looked up at them, his face bearing a similar expression. “She’s still breathing, but her pulse is a little slow—”

Before he had a chance to finish his sentence, or even say anything else afterward, the sound of thundering footsteps filled everyone’s ears, slowly rising in volume, moments before the newly-replaced dorm room door was suddenly thrown open, and Mr. Delmas and Jim rushed in.

“Is everyone alright?!” the principal of the Academy asked in a frantic, concerned tone, his face giving the impression that he had just seen a ghost.

Jeremie immediately opened his mouth in an attempt to explain, but quickly found his words had become scrambled and twisted, leading to a barrage of noises erupting from his lips like an active volcano, instead. Aelita tried her hand at an explanation afterward, but soon fell short, her feelings and emotions threatening to send her into a meltdown. Yumi could barely move, finding her speech clogging her throat. Ulrich couldn't find his words, his hands shaking by his sides. Odd tried to play it off as no big deal, but soon fell into Jeremie's chair, pulling his knees to his chest. Patrick and Kaitlyn stood in shellshocked silence.

Noticing the seven were failing to come up with an adequate explanation, Mr. Delmas raised his hand. “Maybe you all should come with me to the infirmary. Jim, could you gently carry Miss McGuire?”

Everybody nodded, shocked and frightened by the turn of events, which had left them all with a gigantic barrage of feelings, and no way to sort through them. The girls’ eyes welled up with tears, their hands shaking in their laps. The boys—most of them taught to be tough in the face of adversity—were almost at the point of breaking down. Even Ulrich and Patrick, the cool, unruffled ones of the group, had fearful looks in their eyes. Aelita wrapped her arms around Jeremie, cuddling the blond genius for support, who replied by wrapping his left arm around her, to help her walk, as the two followed Mr. Delmas and Jim, the latter cradling the unconscious psychic brunette. Kaitlyn held Patrick’s hand, soon following the two geniuses. Yumi and Ulrich slumped against each other for comfort, and Odd, finding no better option, heavily leaned against the couple, resting his head on their seemingly-connected shoulders. Had he done so under normal circumstances, Ulrich would’ve elbowed him sharply, and Yumi would have shrieked or snapped his name in embarrassment and anger, but because of the vortex, they knew he needed his friends’ encouragement and support, just as much as the rest of them did. It was all the group could do to keep each other from breaking down.

When they reached the infirmary, the seven were surprised to find Sissi already sitting upon one of the beds, looking nearly as shaken up as they were. Before the sequence of events befell them, she had gone to the infirmary to get some aspirin for a headache. Afterward, the sight of the vortex seemed to lock her into a perpetual loop, where she continuously fell onto her side, before sitting up again, only to fall over once more. She had never been so terrified of anything in her entire life, not even the spirit of Leon Corbet.

As the Warriors staggered into the infirmary, behind Mr. Delmas and Jim, Yolanda greeted them gently, and carefully inspected them, while the physical education teacher gently laid Cassidy atop an available bed, near Sissi. After taking a few moments to examine each of the eight, an unsettling look crossed the nurse’s features.

“The vortex seemed to shock them far more than I expected,” Yolanda remarked, trying her best to keep a professional air, as she turned to look at the principal. “The situation is far more than I can handle; it seems to have sent Cassidy into a coma. We need to call the hospital, right away.”

Jean-Pierre nodded, reached into his pocket, and withdrew his cell phone. After quickly dialing a number, placing the device against his ear, and waiting a few seconds for the call to connect, he began to speak in an urgent tone.

“Hello, we need a few ambulances here at Kadic Academy, immediately. There’s not enough time to explain. I will explain everything to you when you get here. Thank you. Goodbye.”

After several tense minutes, sirens, slowly increasing in volume, filled the ears of the occupants in the infirmary, signaling the arrival of the ambulances. Ten paramedics soon rushed into the room, nine with stretchers in tow, while the tenth walked up to the principal.

“Okay, Mr. Delmas,” he began, handing Jean-Pierre a clipboard, upon which several slips of paper were hooked underneath a metal clip, along with a pen chained to the top of it. “I’ll need you to sign the paperwork and to elucidate the situation.”

As Mr. Delmas explained the situation to the paramedic, Jeremie and the others, minus Cassidy, accepted the stretchers. Once he was lying upon his, Jeremie looked at the ceiling, wondering how this had happened.

Seeing the genius of the group in that state, Yumi immediately knew what he was thinking about. As she glanced over at him, while sitting atop another stretcher, she went to open her mouth, only for the blond to return her gaze, and speak first.

“How could this have happened?!” Tears pricked at the corners of his eyes.

“Cassidy had the same nightmare for several months,” Yumi grieved, finally getting her chance to reply, “and we ignored it, even in the beginning.”

Her eyes began to cloud with guilt, as she began to contemplate the possibility that all of this could have been prevented. She wanted to punch herself for their actions, but at the same time, she felt the desire to hug Cassidy’s unconscious form.

“Why did we?!” Aelita shouted, full of regret. “We should have known!”

“Now, we may never get her back!” Odd lamented, tears already streaming down his face. _She’s my girlfriend!_

“If only we had listened to her,” sorrow filled Ulrich’s voice as he reminded the others of a now-painful memory, “when she warned us in Delmas’s office that one time, we wouldn’t be here, right now.”

The samurai closed his eyes as the paramedics loaded him into the ambulance, along with the others, one by one.

The ambulances sped away through the Academy’s gates, in hot pursuit of the hospital, sirens blaring. Within, its stretcher-bound occupants stared at the ceiling, some behind closed eyelids, in quiet contemplation. The effects of Cassidy’s tentative possession and the vortex she summoned were still fresh in everyone’s minds, and each person was handling it differently.

Yumi couldn’t help but feel terrible for Cassidy. She remembered all of the signs she and the others had been given, her slowly fading powers, and especially in the psychic’s nightmare. The feeling of missing the opportunity to preempt the vortex’s appearance ate away at her, as it was something she was incredibly certain she and the others could have prevented.

Ulrich, for his part, while suffering silently, still felt nearly as terrible as his best friends. He felt as though he let Cassidy down. He could have protected her from the eventual coming of the vortex, yet he failed, antagonizing her—made her powers out to be evil. His father would have been disappointed, even though he still considered his friends “good for nothings.” He wouldn't be surprised if the first thing he said was, “Good. One less miscreant to distract you from your studies.” Odd’s comatose state a while ago was minuscule compared to this.

Jeremie was still in a partial state of shock. Certainly, he seemed normal on the surface, but a mere glance at his eyes would shatter the illusion into a million tiny pieces. All of the signs were there. Everything that had recently happened to Cassidy could have been prevented, and he knew it. They all knew it. He was aware that they looked to him as their leader, and he couldn’t even plan around something that had been foretold for weeks, months, even years in advance. Sure, Ulrich felt like a failure, but Jeremie felt even worse if such a thing were even possible.

However, Odd felt as though he could challenge that. While all of them felt as though they had lost one of their best friends, he felt as though he had lost something more: a companion. He loved her, and she did him. He was her novio, and she his novia. She was more than a best friend to him, and this alone hurt him the most. He wasn’t one to let things bother him. He would much rather laugh them off, or try his hardest to stay positive. But this was like a knife through his heart. This wasn’t just something he could laugh away. The pain of this loss reverberated throughout his entire being, sending him into waves of depression, the likes of which had only haunted Ulrich’s craziest nightmares.

Kaitlyn and Patrick trembled. Jeremie told them in notes that Cassidy was “mystifying,” but they thought that he meant that she was an enigma. Sure, they figured it out later, but that scene in the principal’s office cemented that. They could have eased them away, even if they didn’t know her that long. However, the damage had ripped dimensions. How would one girl cause the world this much? How would they have helped?

Aelita had also been figuratively stabbed in the heart, like Odd and Yumi. Her loss was much too great for the pink-haired girl to handle. While she was normally the calming, reassuring pillar of relief, encouraging herself that everything was going to be okay was something that was proving to be her greatest challenge, yet. The primary reason was that she really had no idea. Her roommate and best friend could be gone forever, for all she and the others knew, and the pain resulting from this feeling was much too great. So great, that her eyelids could barely contain the waterfall that gushed from her eyes.

She knew they could have prevented this from happening. Why did they ignore it? What did they think was going to happen? And how could they fix it? It wasn’t something that could be easily fixed with a computer program, her love interest’s handiwork, could it? So many questions filled her confused head, so many answers she sought. She tried her hardest to resist the feeling of hopelessness, but it crawled ever closer.

And what of Sissi? Sure, neither she nor her followers had been on the best of terms with the psychic, but after the vortex had subjected her to a history of everything she had done, since the start of her eighth-grade school year, the resulting barrage of memories left her feeling nearly overloaded.

A mixture of emotions had overtaken her body, and she felt she needed even more time than a standard week allowed, to sort through and process them all. Memories of how she had almost become a Lyoko Warrior herself, before acting on her conscience, leading to her expulsion, and subsequent treatment by the others, for something she technically hadn’t done; memories of nearly every single attack XANA had launched against the school; memories of Cassidy, and how she managed to stop most of XANA’s attacks, initially. And now here she was, lying motionless on a stretcher as if acting as an effective full-stop to her adventures as a Lyoko Warrior.

Honestly, she wasn’t sure what to feel, what to think, or even how to act. Part of her wanted to feel anger, bitterness, and resentment, especially in regards to every single one of the psychic’s dirty tricks. That this was her just desserts, for everything evil she had done to her. And yet part of her felt the opposite. Part of her saw the caring, comforting friend, who always helped her friends, and gave them hope. The one who always had her friends’ best interests at heart.

It was this that she mourned for, like the others. It was as though she truly got to meet the _real_ Cassidy McGuire for the first time. But what if it was the last time? Could she really be…dead? After everything that had transpired, she, too, hoped for a more favorable outcome. She had to pull through. This couldn’t end like this.

After a ride, which seemed like an eternity, regardless of the speed of the ambulances, the next thing everyone knew, their stretchers were being removed from the back of the vehicles and quickly rushed through the emergency room’s double sliding doors. The paramedics wheeled them into the waiting arms of multiple doctors, desiring to know the status of their patients.

“Okay, what do we got?” a bearded doctor was the first to speak, quickly putting on his stethoscope, as he raced alongside the stretchers.

“Adolescents, varying ages,” the paramedic listed. “One in a coma, the rest in shock.”

“Put them all in room three.”

Each was wheeled into one room, before the restraints on each stretcher were released. Once freed, Jeremie was the first to move, sitting up slowly while bringing his knees up to his chest. “Was anyone else slightly unnerved by all that?”

Everyone raised their hands or fingers, whichever felt comfortable for them to use.

“Great. Let’s never do that again, okay?” He forced a grin, but from outside perspective, it did nothing to ebb away the shock. When he realized it, his face crumpled into a frown.

Everyone nodded.

It was at this point that the effects of the ambulance’s ride finally began to take their toll on Sissi, rendering her completely unstable. Her eyes welling up with tears, she immediately wrapped her arms around Odd and began sobbing uncontrollably into his shoulder. “Oh, Odd, I’m so sorry!” she wailed, to the increasingly confused cat boy.

“Huh?” was all he could muster, the surprise of Sissi’s reaction adding to the multitude of feelings he already had, from everything that had happened, up to that point.

“I’m sorry for everything I’ve ever done to you and your friends! Even the things I don’t remember doing!” she clarified.

His eyes widened, an outward sign of the blond’s inward confusion from the principal’s daughter’s confession. Even Ulrich, who had overheard most of the conversation between the two, had been caught off-guard. He had seen her kinder, gentler side on many an occasion, usually before a Return to the Past rendered it null and void. With the vortex having completely unveiled every exploit they previously kept secret to nearly everyone back at Kadic, the brown-haired boy began to wonder if his and his friends’ harsh treatment of her was truly justified.

It was only a short period of time before Sissi was calmed, and she and the others were soon situated in their spacious hospital room. They hoped their stay would be brief, and that Cassidy would pull through quickly, but they knew that all they could do was wait.

Wait for her body to heal.

Wait for their bodies to heal.

Wait for time to heal every last one of their wounds, even if the duration was out of their control.

While the others appeared to be starting down the path of recovery, Cassidy’s pulse continued to remain low. Life-support equipment was soon wheeled in and attached to Cassidy, with doctors constantly monitoring her heart rate in the hopes that she would soon regain consciousness.

As the days and weeks passed, Sissi, Jeremie, Aelita, Odd, Yumi, Ulrich, Patrick and Kaitlyn slowly began to recover. The lingering effects of their shock, the by-product of the vortex, completely dissipated within a week, and their bodies began to return to normal, as a result. Jeremie soon found his brain was no longer figuratively jammed from the shock’s effects and was able to think more clearly. Each of them was able to leave their beds, and walk around the room, albeit with the help of nurses, at first. Once their legs no longer felt stiff, or prone to buckling from the lack of use, they were granted nearly full freedom of motion.

However, no matter how happy they tried to be, as their health continued to improve, Cassidy’s unchanging health quickly dampened that. For weeks on end, somber faces glanced in the direction of, and even approached, the fallen psychic, hoping for any positive change in her heart rate, or appearance, but nothing happened. No matter how many positive words were said, no matter how many reassuring phrases were uttered, or even gentle caresses of her arms, hands or face, Cassidy remained unconscious, and her pulse remained low.

More weeks went by, without any change in Cassidy’s health. As she lay motionless upon her hospital bed, doctors and nurses had come and gone, checking her vitals for any signs of development, and changing the intravenous liquids going into her system. The situation began to seem more and more hopeless, no matter how much the others absolutely loathed or even hated the thought. Their health had nearly fully recovered over time; yet, seeing the opposite happen, right before their eyes, was nothing short of disheartening. It only served to twist the metaphorical knives in each of their hearts even further. How could they have foreseen that this would happen as a result of their negligence?

Even Ulrich and Yumi, ones who were known to suffer silently, couldn’t help the downtrodden looks that painted their faces. It was a constant reminder of their own mortality, as well as that of one of their best friends. After everything they had been through, every XANA attack, every Lyoko mission, every prank, every celebration, to think that it could all end very soon, and in one of the worst ways possible, was something none of them wanted to consider. But when it stared them in the eyes, nearly anywhere they looked, how could it not occupy their thoughts? They didn’t want her powers to overcome her, and send her into a coma, yet it happened, anyway. Now, they didn’t want Cassidy to die.

That was the most prevalent thought in Ulrich’s mind. _We should have heeded her warnings. We should have heeded her warnings._ Every time he thought about the very real possibility that he could lose one of his best friends, a tear cruised down his cheek. He had stopped thinking about hiding his emotions, as everyone else in the room felt exactly the same way he did, and he knew it. How could he be strong, if nobody else was? Even Yumi, his girlfriend, had several wet lines streaming down her cheeks. She was nearly as strong-willed as he was, and she couldn’t hold herself back, either. Each of them knew the other wanted to scream their lungs out and bawl their eyes out.

Any one of them would have gladly taken her place, without a second thought, if the opportunity arose. They had come close to losing their friends before, but Yumi and Cassidy’s false cellular degeneration and the latter’s terrific time in a fighter jet were child’s play compared to what they were faced with, now.

If Ulrich and Yumi felt absolutely terrible about the state of their best friend, how much worse could Odd feel? The once shining, laughter-filled beacon of happiness that was Cassidy’s boyfriend had been extinguished by the sudden, harsh reality. It had normally proven to be a worthy adversary, one that he could always best, no matter how many fiery arrows, or sharp swords, were thrust in his direction. But with his other half lying horizontally upon a bed, it was as if the barrier surrounding the light had fallen, enabling an ice cold wind to take the flame that fueled the grin that frequently adorned his face. He couldn’t be happy. Not when the threat of his girlfriend’s death loomed over him like a storm cloud. This was truly a feeling he couldn’t shake, no matter how rapidly his body vibrated. He honestly never thought he could feel this way.

Jeremie and Aelita were not faring any better. While Jeremie wasn’t one to hide his emotions when possible, like Ulrich, even his face had become lightly soaked. He, too, felt personally responsible and knew that he would experience incredible emotional pain if the fear on everyone’s minds ended up becoming real. But it couldn’t; it just couldn’t. Cassidy had to hang on.

Whenever something terrible happened to one of his friends, especially as the result of a Lyoko mission, or a XANA attack, he would often call his leadership abilities into question. What could he have done to prevent such a thing from happening? This wasn’t something that he could fix, by debugging a program, or having her carried into a scanner, and virtualized onto Lyoko. This was much worse. And like Ulrich, it made him feel useless. Especially when he knew that he and the others could’ve prevented Cassidy from falling into a coma. That ate away at him nearly as much as it did Odd, if not more so. It was always one more Lyoko mission. One more counter-attack against XANA, all the while never thinking of the possible ramifications or consequences one such attack could bring about.

His girlfriend was nearly as much of a wreck as Ulrich’s was. Before, when they started their road to recovery, Aelita couldn’t look in Cassidy’s direction without turning to him, and sobbing into his brown sweater. It was all she could do to stop herself from becoming a basket case. As her physical and mental wounds healed, so did her emotional wounds, but every so often, thoughts about Cassidy’s unchanging status would destroy her composure, and cause tears to gush from her eyes. She never wanted this to happen, not to Cassidy, nor any of her best friends.

This had been one of her absolute worst fears since she first met Jeremie and his friends. They were like family to her. Aside from Franz Hopper, whom they had yet to find on the Internet, they were the only family she had. To see one of them at death’s door was as if XANA had dropped a two-ton weight onto her heart, and no matter how hard it fought to keep a handle on the load that had been introduced, it was a losing battle.

Patrick and Kaitlyn were suffering, much like their new friends, but to a lesser extent. They had only recently met her; in Patrick’s case, it was thanks to her that his cousin had even realized that their clashing personalities were only a figment of his imagination. But after everything they had heard about the psychic, to see her end up like this was heartbreaking, even for them. Glancing around the room, they could feel their friends’ pain, almost as if it were their own. Each one silently told a story, and it was from this, that they knew exactly what Cassidy meant to each of them. All they could do was comfort the others, and hope that, in time, Cassidy would awaken, invalidating every single one of their fears. This was what they all truly wanted. They felt as though they had to be the beacons of hope, when no one else was able to step up to the task, no matter how tough the challenge might be.

Sissi felt terrible, as well. By this time, all of her negative feelings toward Cassidy had completely evaporated, as fear and sadness kept their grip firm upon her disposition. She couldn’t stay mad at the psychic forever, even if her mean, bratty attitude were only a front, and Cassidy’s, not to mention the others’ mutual negativity toward her had harbored bad blood between them.

That wasn’t her anymore; not at this point, at least. Now all she could think about was Cassidy’s health and well-being. She had just recently begun to see her as a friend, and that friend was on the verge of dying. Her already fragile will had already been broken before, and the pieces were getting increasingly harder to find. She felt like Humpty Dumpty, only her great fall had already happened, and the after-effects were worse than she could have ever imagined. And what could she do? She could only draw blanks.

 


	2. The Angst Continues and Good Fortune

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hunter Moebius and I don't own Code Lyoko

It was several more weeks before the first civilian visitors they had seen in two months finally came to call. It was none other than Cassidy’s mother, Debra, and her father, Scott, who were no worse for wear than the others were. Upon hearing of Cassidy’s condition, their hearts instantly shattered, and they knew they had to visit her, no matter the cost. But while merely hearing about Cassidy’s coma was heart-wrenching for them, seeing it for themselves absolutely tore them apart. The majority of their next two weeks were spent by Cassidy’s bed, doing anything they could think of, to spur the brunette to awaken. They began to encourage her to wake up, often getting her friends to aid in their endeavor. They mentioned anything they could think of, including her horse figurine collection and pets, that waited for her at home. And when they had exhausted their other options, as tears streamed down their faces, they called upon the Lord to break through her coma, with all of their might. But when nothing seemed to change, they reluctantly admitted defeat, only due to pre-existing engagements, which included work, and the care of their other daughter, Rhiannon. Jeremie, Aelita, Odd, and the others were comforted by their appearance, but it did very little for the overall morale in the room.

A few days after their departure, however, Cassidy’s eight friends awoke to a delightful surprise. Jeremie’s eyes were the first to open, as his ears picked up an interesting sound. He and the others had gotten used to a slow beeping sound emanating from the heart rate monitor, one of the many devices connected to the psychic, keeping her alive throughout her coma. This morning, however, found the heart rate monitor’s beeping noise moving to a faster tempo. Excitement building within him, Jeremie immediately reached for his glasses, before his head snapped in the direction of Cassidy’s bed. Sliding the spectacles over his eyes, he gazed at the graph on the monitor’s display, which had increased during the night. This filled him with amazement, as he then turned his eyes on Cassidy, hoping this was a sign that she would soon rise.

He gently nudged Aelita, who hadn’t slept well since the start of their untimely visit to the hospital, since she had nightmares of hearing the monitor beep in a constant high note, as hers had a long time ago. At first, her half-groggy mind couldn’t register what she saw on the screen. Once the fog cleared from her mind, a sunny smile, one Jeremie, and the others, hadn’t seen in quite some time, filled her face. “She’s going to be alright, Princess. We just have to keep hoping,” he whispered, patting her shoulder and holding her hand.

Odd’s jaw dropped when he watched the monitor. In his gloomy haze, when he didn’t go to sleep worrying about his girlfriend, he often observed the screen, almost to the point of insane cynicism. But when the increase in heart rate appeared right before his eyes, a firework set off in his own. “Cat Girl, you are full of surprises,” he murmured to her, giving her a small peck on the cheek.

Ulrich had also been battling insomnia over the past month, primarily due to the intense, negative thoughts that had shrouded his mind in near-complete darkness. Whenever he would lay upon his hospital bed, and close his eyes, it was as if his thoughts had pinned him against a rock, leaving him nothing with which to defend himself, all the while giving him spine-tingling nightmares, to the point where he often refused to try and sleep, out of fear. This was why, when his eyes beheld Cassidy’s heart rate monitor pulsing along at a faster rate than before, relief began to permeate his entire being, as if he was finally able to strike a match, in the darkness that clouded his mind. This was a positive sign, something he had been craving for months, now. He knew she was strong. And now he was even more certain than before, that she would pull through. He would just have to make sure he was there, along with the others, to give her a helping hand through the rest of her coma, to redeem himself.

Sissi gently stroked Cassidy’s hair, a comforting air around her. “Oh, I had no idea your hair was this soft…” In a matter of speaking, she became a protective hen around her when Odd didn’t guard the monitor. Her increase in heart rate meant that she would improve. “Maybe later, we all could go to the spa, my father’s treat.”

Yumi could barely contain her happiness, at Cassidy’s increase in pulse. A large grin sliced through the frown that her face previously carried, as her emotions began to well up within her. After the death-defying scare the brunette had put her and the others through, she was absolutely beside herself with joy at the sight. So much so, that a lone tear slowly crawled down her cheek, carrying most of her previous fears with it. She quickly wiped her eyes with the back of her right hand, before turning them to the psychic brunette, as she approached her hospital bed. If all of their hoping and encouragement over the last two months had produced this, then more gentle prodding could bring her back completely.

Nearing the bed, she was slightly surprised to find Sissi by Cassidy’s side, giving her the same treatment she had planned to administer. Anger immediately overtook her thoughts. _How dare Sissi try to take advantage of a terrible situation! Who did she think she was, jumping in like she was an old friend?_

Her face contorting itself into a glare, while hurtful words prepared to cross her lips, the match that was about to light the keg of dynamite she was about to let loose suddenly extinguished as she walked closer to Cassidy’s bed. Her face softened, as she beheld the principal’s daughter’s kind actions and words toward the brunette. She watched Sissi softly caress Cassidy’s hair, speaking comforting words, all the while giving off a warm aura. Yumi realized she couldn’t be angry at her; the warmer, friendlier, more angelic side of the Delmas girl, a rare sight that previously had only reared its head under certain circumstances, had graced them with its presence. It brought with it a warm, friendly being, that wanted Cassidy to awaken, nearly as much as she and the others had. To show the brunette her support, and that she was there for her, just like the others. How could Yumi be mad at a person like this? Even if she had been a mean, bratty person to them before, the countless weeks she had spent with them had eroded away this facet of her personality, all the while attempting to earn their forgiveness.

A smile slowly returned to the raven-haired Japanese girl’s face, as she stepped up to the side of Cassidy’s bed across from Sissi. The principal’s daughter slowly raised her gaze away from the brunette, to identify the person that had entered the area, before flashing a calm smile toward Yumi. Sissi was slightly afraid of how the Japanese girl would react to her treatment of Cassidy, as the vortex had shown her Yumi’s protective side, especially when it came to her and Aelita. Seeing a warm smile on her face comforted her, and soothed her nerves, as she returned to her gentle caress of the brunette’s long hair. Yumi soon joined in as well, applying a soft, gentle rub to Cassidy’s right shoulder.

 _You’re gonna pull through, Cassidy,_ she thought. _You’ve come too far to give up, now. We’re all here for you. Every single one of us._

Patrick and Kaitlyn smiled at seeing it climb to normal levels. Their beacons of hope became brighter. They might not have known her too long, but to see the significant development enlarged their hope.

With Cassidy’s heart beating along at a healthier speed, morale began to improve. With it, everyone’s thoughts turned to Cassidy’s eventual awakening. If her pulse had returned to normal, it was obvious that she would soon open her eyes, hopefully not white anymore, and enjoy the gentle and loving onslaught from her adoring friends that was waiting for her. Everyone believed this, as they felt as though there was little reason to doubt she would remain unconscious.

However, days soon flew by, without any change in Cassidy’s status. Her heart rate neither improved nor regressed, yet her body remained motionless upon her hospital bed. The once-high morale that each of her friends had held, starting from the day her pulse quickened, soon began to falter, as days turned into weeks, without any improvements. Ulrich found that, after almost a week of pleasant dreams, nightmares generated by his nerves soon returned. Aelita and Odd started losing sleep, especially as the latter quite often found himself pacing near his girlfriend’s bed, his eyes continuously bouncing back and forth, between Cassidy’s heart rate monitor, and Cassidy herself. Eventually, it reached a point where he felt that she could awaken at any moment, and he had to be vigilant, to alert the others the moment any part of her body moved. On some nights, no matter how many times the others tried to coax him into his bed, he refused.

Jeremie tried his hardest to keep his sweetheart’s morale high, even as things began to look more and more grim. Initially, Aelita felt mostly reassured by Jeremie’s attempts, but as the days disappeared into an abyss, even she could look into her bespectacled boyfriend’s eyes, and see his own self-doubt.

Two weeks passed, bringing the friends’ hospital stay time past the three-month mark. With Cassidy’s health unchanging, even the doctors began to grow skeptical. It was on one such day that the hospital staff’s skepticism reached a head.

That day found each of the conscious friends passing the time, by burying their noses in books. With Cassidy’s unchanging state and unknown fate looming over their heads like a storm cloud, it was all they could do to take their minds off from the grim reality that presented itself. Jeremie, as befitting a genius whose adoring friends nicknamed “Einstein,” was reading a biography on Albert himself, occasionally reading parts of it aloud to Aelita. Ulrich and Yumi glanced over a book on Pencak Silat techniques, with Patrick occasionally looking over from his own, which detailed Aikido techniques, to compare and contrast differences between the two martial arts. Odd was adamant about not leaving Cassidy’s side and refused to step away, even when Aelita suggested to him that a book would help him relax. After additional attempts had failed, she decided to follow along and handed him _Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets_ , which raised his spirits, slightly. Aelita knew how badly he wanted Cassidy to awaken, and to this extent, assumed that him reading one of her books to her might help in that endeavor. She minutely snickered as he tried his hand at Parseltongue in one chapter.

Atop her bed, Sissi perused a beauty magazine, her eyes scanning page after page of advertisements for makeup, hair- and skin-care products, wondering if she could make herself look like any of the models in the pictures did. Finally, Kaitlyn’s attention was held firmly by the mystery novel she held in her hands. She had been quite engaged in the story it held within, during her off-time, when XANA wasn’t wreaking havoc with her schedule, and especially before the vortex’s appearance. Post-vortex, however, she found real life to be even more mysterious than her storybook. But with things as they were, she, like the others, needed a good escape.

But even their escapes wouldn’t insulate them from the shock that was to come.

While the others were engrossed in their respective media of choice, it became time for one of Cassidy’s routine check-ups. Two nurses and one of the doctors entered the room and approached the brunette’s bed, one bearing a bag filled with IV liquid, and all carrying stethoscopes draped across their shoulders, like how a person completing their daily workout would wrap a towel. One nurse immediately set to work, changing the bag that fed liquid intravenously to the dormant psychic; the other aided the doctor, as he examined Cassidy for any signs of change.

Odd temporarily halted his reading, and lowered his book, as the doctor tested his comatose girlfriend, gently moving out of the way when he came closer. As the doctor worked, the blond glanced up at the physician’s face, checking to see if his facial expressions would reveal more than the prognosis he assumed they would get, later on. After weeks of more of the same, he wanted, more than anything, to latch onto any positive news at all. However, the doctor’s complexion was completely devoid of any positive emotion, something which did absolutely nothing for Odd’s demeanor. The doctor completed his routine, all the while his face refused to budge from its neutral gaze, giving the blond the distinct impression that he had no uplifting news to give them.

“What’s the latest, doc?” Odd inquired, his voice struggling to show a glimmer of hope, as the other two nurses finished their work, and left the room.

“There’s been no change, whatsoever,” the doctor replied. “Her vitals are almost nearly normal, and yet she shows no signs of waking from her coma. I simply don’t understand.”

His sentence finished, the doctor turned to leave the room, gently closing the door behind himself. Odd, meanwhile, slowly walked back toward Cassidy’s bed, his face falling flat in reply to the doctor’s report. This wasn’t what he wanted to hear, at all. Nobody wanted to hear it. How could Cassidy’s vitals be near normal, and she still be in a coma? When her heart rate had jumped weeks ago, they had taken that as a sign that things were going to get better. Immediately after, however, it went back to being more of the same, only Cassidy was farther from death’s door than she was before. Her eight conscious friends were immensely thankful for that, but what was going to happen, now?

Yumi watched as Odd stopped before the head of Cassidy’s bed, and began softly running his fingers through the brunette’s long hair, bearing an expression that was very unlike his normal demeanor. She knew that he had to be suffering more than the rest of them, only because Cassidy was his girlfriend, rather than just one of his best friends like she was to the others. A slow glance out of the corners of her eyes showed her that Ulrich also noticed Odd’s reaction, and felt that his pain had to be similar, just like hers. With Odd feeling especially downtrodden, she had an idea.

She slowly approached the boy from behind, forcing a reassuring smile on her face, and gently placed her hand upon his shoulder. In reply, Odd slowly turned his head away from Cassidy, a longing gaze painting his pain-stricken face as his eyes met the Japanese girl’s.

“Hey, Odd,” she spoke in a calm, quiet voice. “Why don’t we go for a walk, and get some hot chocolate? That’ll make you feel better.”

“The only thing that’ll make me feel better,” Odd retorted, sadly, “is seeing Cassidy wake up.”

Yumi gave a sad nod, in reply. “I understand. But I think you really could use a walk. Just around the floor we’re on. C’mon.”

Odd sighed, closing his eyes, and leaning forward, slightly. “Oh… alright.”

The raven-haired girl lowered her shoulder-resting hand down toward Odd’s back, before giving it a soft, gentle, comforting rub. She then turned to her brown-haired boyfriend, raising her volume, slightly.

“Hey, Ulrich!” she called to him. “Wanna go for a walk with Odd and me?”

At first, Ulrich didn’t appear to be paying attention to his Japanese girlfriend. His gaze was fixed on Cassidy’s unconscious body, just like Odd’s had been, a moment before. On Yumi’s second call, however, he suddenly stood upright, and alert.

“Huh?” he replied, with a blink. “What? Oh, y-y-yeah, no problem. We can go for a walk!”

His eyes closed, as he reached behind his head, a blush spreading across his face due to being caught off-guard by Yumi’s request. He soon lowered his hand to his side and walked over to join his girlfriend and best friend, as they approached the door to their hospital room.

It was a short walk to the vending machines on their floor. Yumi and Ulrich held hands, her rubbing the top of his in reassurance with her thumb. Odd followed beside the couple, trying to get his mind off of his unconscious girlfriend, but failing. Every time he glanced over at his roommate and his girlfriend, images of Cassidy would flash through his mind, especially as he noticed their interactions, causing him to resort to keeping his eyes forward, instead.

Ulrich looked at his roommate with gentle eyes. “Odd, it’s not as though she will get kidnapped again in this hospital.”

“I would hate to think about what would happen if it does.” Yumi frowned, inwardly shuddering.

“That’s not what I’m worried about, though,” Odd replied.

“It isn’t?” the lovebirds chorused.

“No!” Odd continued. “Besides, what would XANA want with Cat Girl, anyway?”

“She did say that he wanted to use her powers to make us get rid of her after probing them,” Yumi noted. “Come to think about it, XANA’s been suspiciously quiet.”

Odd’s mouth quirked up a hair. “Maybe he forgot to pay his own phone bill.”

Yumi’s and Ulrich’s brows rose. That was the first joke he had ever said in a long time since his jab at Sissi and spaghetti before Cassidy’s coma. Then they chuckled a bit, their stress melting like ice. Sure, he wasn’t back to normal yet, and understandably so, but Odd still had his penchant for jokes.

“I haven’t heard that one in a long time,” Ulrich smiled. “Nice one, Odd.”

“Even if my proverbs have yet to be desired?” Odd looked at him.

“Hey, those two you said before the End of the Year Dance were really silly,” Yumi beamed, “but they made so much better sense.”

“At least Peter Duncan isn’t around…”

All of a sudden, Odd heard something. He lifted his finger and hissed a “Sh…” at the couple.

“That young lady in Room 317 hasn’t awoken from her coma yet, Dr. Hornet. It’s a total mystery why she hasn’t. Her heart rhythm is rising normally. All signs point to her soon regaining consciousness, yet she remains in her coma.”

A reedy, male, elderly voice came to the trio’s ears next. “Under normal circumstances, if a comatose patient doesn’t wake by the end of a given month, we would cut life support. While Miss McGuire’s vitals are incredibly close to normal, she has been in this state for nearly three months. Maybe it might be time to consider taking her off life support?”

Odd, Yumi, and Ulrich gasped silently. _They can’t do that, can they?_

“I don’t want to do that in front of her friends. Plus, Jean-Pierre Delmas would have to sign a DNR consent form, since, while her parents are in the United States, he’s her medical proxy.”

A feminine voice spoke next—Dr. Chantal’s, Odd and Ulrich noted quietly. “You’re absolutely right. Since Jean-Pierre is the principal of the boarding school, and she is therefore considered to be studying abroad as a minor, he assumes legal guardianship.”

“We don’t know if her brain has been damaged from being unconscious for this long,” the first doctor’s voice rose slightly.

 _There’s nothing wrong with her brain,_ Odd retorted in his mind. _She may not be as brilliant as Einstein or Princess, but she is far greater. She’s creative, fun, and witty._

“Well, if there’s little change in her state of consciousness, two weeks before we take her off, we’ll have Mr. Delmas sign the DNR form,” Dr. Hornet replied.

Yumi’s complexion paled, just as it had when her Savior had fallen into her coma in the first place. “We cannot wait any longer. We’ll get everyone hot chocolate and then spring the news.”

“Everyone is going to hate this,” Odd whined in his usual notes of dramatic air.

“We gotta try and stop them from pulling the plug on Cassidy!” Ulrich looked at him, a steely glint in his eyes. “We already failed her once, but we can now redeem ourselves.”

“Yeah!” Odd and Yumi agreed.

“Now, here’s what we’re going to do...”

Later, cup carriers of hot chocolate in hand, Ulrich opened the door to their room. Odd forced a grin on his visage. “Ha-ha! Hot chocolate for everyone! And it has the added benefit of not tasting like sweat socks and an old pair of sneakers!” He winked.

Aelita looked at her “cousin.” “You were gone a long time.”

“We didn’t head out of the hospital.” Ulrich jiggled a cup out of the holder and handed it to Patrick. Similar to Jeremie, his cousins shared his affinity for hot chocolate. “We thought everyone wanted a little pick-me-up.”

The other brown-haired male teen sipped from the drink. “Boy, you were right, Odd!”

Yumi nodded, still wondering if her boyfriend knew what he was doing. So far, it was going well. They distributed the warm drinks.

Aelita noticed the look in her darker-haired friend’s face. “Yumi, is something the matter? You look like you saw XANA’s ghosts.”

“Please tell me that’s not the case,” Kaitlyn deadpanned. “We can’t risk rushing out of the hospital to deactivate the tower.”

She looked at them and leaned back a bit. “XANA isn’t on the attack.” That was the truth. “I’m surprised that he hasn’t since we came to the hospital.”

“I didn’t bring my laptop,” Jeremie admitted. In his (and his friends and cousins’) haze, he didn’t think to pack his equipment and bring it. “But you’re right. Unless this coma is a part of XANA’s attacking, he has been silent.”

“Just like the time he didn’t attack in almost the same amount of time during the summer, right?” Aelita asked.

“And um...speaking of Cassidy’s coma…” Odd said uneasily. _Thanks for bringing it up, Jeremie._

Sissi looked up from her beauty magazine, interested. “Did they find a cure for her?”

Ulrich scratched the back of his head. “Well, uh…t-to put it tactfully...”

Seeing her boyfriend’s floundering attempt to force the words out, Yumi folded her arms, as the feeling of anger, brought on from the news she was about to divulge, fixed her face into an angry frown, closing her eyes. “What Ulrich is trying to say, is that…”

“They’re giving up on her!” Odd blurted, unable to hold it in, tears welling up in his eyes. “The doctor wants to give Cat Girl until the end of this month, and then they’re gonna pull the plug on her!”

That went over like a ton of bricks.

It was as if a psycho had burst into the room, and pointed double barrel guns at each of the conscious members, as Odd tearfully relayed his message. They dropped their books as though they were scalding hot pieces of metal, gasping in shock.

“B-but they can’t give up!” Sissi protested. “Cassidy’s medical proxy, my father, won’t even allow it! Plus, isn’t there some hippocampus rule that says ‘do no harm,’ or something?”

“It’s called the Hippocratic Oath,” Jeremie corrected.

“Yes, the Hippocratic Oath. Thanks, Jeremie.”

“It’s not going to be that easy, Sissi,” Ulrich interjected. “They are going to go to your father and have him sign a Do Not Resuscitate form.”

Her jaw dropped, and a shaky whimper escaped her throat. Tears welled up, but she quickly wiped them away, as a fire began to build up within her being, igniting every moral fiber. “Well, I for one won’t stand for this! We gotta think up of a plan!”

Yumi nodded, cutting to the affirmative.

Patrick raised a finger, similar to his cousin answering a question a teacher would ask. “But what are we going to do? We don’t have anything. And we can’t go to the factory to pull a return trip wipe on them.”

“We have beds! We can build up a barricade,” Sissi replied. “Just like that time in Punching Skillets class.”

Yumi and Ulrich simultaneously slapped their foreheads. “It’s called Pen-chock Sí-lot, Sissi!” they chorused.

“Sorry, the pronunciation was a bit too fast. We’ll give them a fight they’ll never forget.”

“Sissi, that is the greatest plan you have ever come up with! You’re a genius!” the geisha exclaimed.

“Plus, we’re stronger after all,” Odd smiled, wiping away his tears from hearing Sissi’s plan.

“I may not always be right, but we’ve got each other’s backs.” The former snob replaced the clips in her hair, having not worn them since the second day in the hospital. “Now, let’s save Cassidy!”

Over the next few days, Jeremie and Aelita (with the input from the others) drew up a strategy. They couldn’t find any paper to use initially, but they asked the nurses, who gave them some notebooks to, as they thought, “doodle their thoughts down to relieve their traumatic experience.” However, as soon as the door shut, they whipped out their pens and pencils, drawing up designs for the barricade. At first, the blueprints were either too silly to use (“No, Odd! For the last time, we are not shaping the barricade into an alicorn! We don’t have enough beds!” Ulrich protested) or had several weak spots (“You do realize you left a gaping hole in one side of Cassidy’s bed, right, Kaitlyn?” Yumi asked), but as the day drew nearer, the Lyoko Warriors finally found a stable and sound solution in Patrick’s design, much to Einstein’s delight. The clock ticking away (figuratively and literally), as the final countdown drew to a close, the strongest of the group built the barricade according to Patrick’s instructions and Jeremie and Aelita’s supervision.

Yet, unbeknownst to the others working on the shield, as she continued to lay unconscious upon her bed, Cassidy’s hand randomly twitched.

The next evening, the doctors and nurses walked into the room, their eyes widening at the sight of the beds arranged in such a way they thought that their patients were unconventionally preparing for the end of the entire world. Doctor Chantal smiled, a nervous twitch in her words. “Uh, what’s going on here, children?”

“Oh, nothing, just a little something called ‘coming to a friend’s defense,’” Kaitlyn said, standing behind the makeshift barricade with the gang.

She and the bearded doctor exchanged a confused glance. In all their years as doctors, this was the first time they had ever seen something like this. “What do you mean, young lady?”

“Don't play dumb with us! We heard what you said about our friend! We are not going to let you take her off life support,” she retorted.

“Yes, it’s true,” Sissi jumped in, gaining the doctors’ gaze. “We know Cassidy hasn’t woken up, yet, but she’s going to! But you thought she was taking too long!”

“It won’t take her too much longer,” Aelita ascertained, herself being the next target of the doctors’ eyes. “By the end of the day, she might just wake up! She’s stronger than you think. You shouldn't give up on her!”

“So, please don’t switch off her life support, just yet,” Jeremie was the last to add. “We know it looks bad now, but if you could just trust us, we know she’ll wake up very soon.”

“And to prevent you from doing so, we built a barricade around her!” Patrick smiled smugly.

Sensing the possibility of the drama escalating, the bearded doctor turned to the dark-haired female. “Dr. Chantal, call security! We’ll need some backup!”

“Right away, Dr. Porter!” She ran out of the room.

The eight conscious kids gritted their teeth, as Dr. Chantal fled. From the sound of the tension in Dr. Porter’s voice, things were about to get even more interesting than they had been. If seeing their hospital beds arranged in a barricade spoke fear into the hearts of the doctors, their calling security gave the impression that their defensive tactics were perceived as a threat. This was not going to be like a battle on Lyoko; they’d need their wits and every ability they had on hand if hospital security was going to be as terrible as Dr. Porter led on. The question was, would Pencak Silat and Aikido be enough?

Jeremie looked back at his sweetheart. “Aelita, stand by Cassidy's bed!”

“What?” Aelita interjected, surprised her blond-haired love interest would make such a suggestion, as she wanted to fight with them, as well.

“Jeremie's right,” Ulrich agreed. “You don't have any self-defense training, and we don't have time to teach you the bare basics. Security will be here any minute.”

“Plus, you can be Cassidy's last line of defense,” Kaitlyn insisted.

Odd stood by Cassidy's bed. “I’m staying behind, too! That way, they will have to go through me to get to you, Princess!”

The pink-haired girl nodded and joined her “cousin” by the head of her first roommate’s bed. “I just hope this works.”

Jeremie stood a couple of feet away from the wildcard. “It'll have to. Otherwise, it's game over for Cassidy.”

As the room fell silent, the eight began to hear footsteps approaching the door to their hospital room. Indistinct conversation befell their ears, possibly a counterattack against them. They gritted their teeth, as Ulrich, Yumi, Sissi, Patrick, and Kaitlyn assumed battle stances, awaiting their enemy’s arrival.

Aelita held her breath, keeping her hand on Cassidy's. This was going to be crazy. Odd’s eyes darted to the door to their room, anxiously awaiting security’s entry, and the battle that would ensue.

Strangely, as the pink-haired girl kept a somewhat firm grip upon the psychic brunette’s hand, she could sense what felt like tiny twitches. Misunderstanding, she assumed it her imagination, and paid no attention to it, attributing it to the tension of the moment having effects on her.

“Remember, we are doing this for Cassidy. One last run before they cut her off for good!” Jeremie announced. “We can't let them remove her life support equipment.”

“Right!” the surrounding seven cheered. “FOR CASSIDY!”

As if their words were a trigger, the door to their hospital room soon opened, signaling Dr. Chantal’s return, flanked by three security guards. Upon entering the room, the doctor pointed the three in the direction of the five battle-posed teens.

“They’re right there, gentlemen,” she commented, a smirk slicing through her face.

“It's eight against three,” Yumi noted under her breath, as she sized up the security guards. “Better than eleven or twelve.”

“Just be careful with what they might have up their sleeve,” Jeremie warned. “This isn't like fighting on Lyoko. Same goes for you, Patrick and Kaitlyn.” His stomach clenched. His cousins were putting their lives on the line, just as he was. He knew that their parents would probably have kittens when they heard what they did, but that was small-time, compared to everything else in front of them.

“Alright,” one of the security guards spoke in a gruff voice similar to Jim’s as he approached the five. “We’ll make this easy on you. Just let the doctors through to do what they came to do, and nobody gets hurt.”

In reply, Kaitlyn glanced over at Patrick, out of the corner of her eye.

“You got this one, cuz?” she suggested.

Patrick nodded. “Oh, yeah, definitely! This will be a real piece of cake.”

He approached, cracking his knuckles. The security guard stared him down, almost as though he were surprised the boy would try to challenge him.

Without a second thought, Patrick lunged, swinging his fist forward in an attempt to strike the security guard. He watched the brown-haired boy’s moves, before thrusting his own hand out, at precisely the right moment, and catching Patrick’s fist, killing his momentum completely. The teenager’s body briefly froze in midair, before he dropped to his feet.

Patrick shook his hand a bit, as the guard folded his arms, and stared, smugly, at the teenager.

“You’re gonna have to do better than that,” he taunted, “if you wanna try and stop us!”

Behind the black-clad boy, Ulrich and Yumi analyzed the situation within their minds.

 _Ooh, tough guys,_ Ulrich thought. _I’ve been through worse. But I hope Yumi’s gonna be able to hold her own against them._

Nearby, his girlfriend found herself thinking similar thoughts. _I wonder how Ulrich's gonna hold up against these three! Patrick barely even stood a chance against them._

While the guard continued to stare down a slightly surprised Patrick, Sissi had approached a nearby guard and got into a fighting stance. At first, the guard almost seemed to think she was joking—a sleight of hand, as it may seem.

“What is this?” the guard she stood in front of quipped, staring down at Sissi, as she began a chop to the burly man’s chest, then a punch in his stomach.

Dumbfounded, the guard slumped to the floor, clutching his stomach. How could one teenage girl, one who looked so scrawny, have managed that maneuver with skinny arms?

The other two guards looked over in shock, as well.

“That's our Sissi!” Odd cheered. “Let's rock and roll, Juliet!”

It was only a matter of seconds before the other two guards snapped to attention and immediately began to crowd Sissi. However, as the guard Patrick had previously tried to attack walked forward, extending his arms to grab the principal’s daughter, a piercing cry rang out, as a foot slammed into the side of his head, knocking him against the wall.

“She may not ever be my girlfriend, but no one messes with Sissi!” Ulrich growled dangerously.

Sissi smiled gratefully at him.

The guard slowly sat up, wincing as he rubbed the back of his head. He was amazed that a kid of his stature could pack that much power behind his kicks.

“In fact, no one messes with my friends!” Ulrich added, approaching the fallen guard.

The brown-haired boy stared down his opponent, feeling confident that he had gotten the upper hand. It was this quick lapse of defenses and judgment, that enabled another guard to leap forward, catching Ulrich between his arms. His sudden capture alerted the others to his predicament, as he squirmed rapidly in the guard’s arms.

“Ulrich!” Yumi gasped.

Her look of surprise quickly morphed into one of anger, as she prepared a counterattack, in an attempt to save her boyfriend. While doing so, Kaitlyn decided she would aid in Yumi’s endeavor, and started strategizing on her own.

Nearby, Dr. Chantal quickly ran over toward the guard, as the German-named boy fought to break free of his tight grip, and pulled a syringe out of her pocket. If the other teenagers were as tough as this one, she began to assume sedating one might even the chances out, in their favor.

Her quick movements didn’t escape the gaze of Ulrich’s friends, who quickly plotted to prevent the doctor from finishing her task. Kaitlyn waited until she saw what appeared to be an opening to her, and began running toward the guard that held Ulrich firmly against his chest. Once she had gotten close enough to her target, she leaped into the air, while pulling her fist backward, preparing to build up enough momentum to catch him by surprise.

However, just as she swung her fist forward, with all of her might, another guard quickly slid between the two, catching Kaitlyn’s entire arm between his hands. Surprise covered her face, as she dropped to the floor.

In reply, the guard adopted a confident, malicious grin.

“It didn’t work for your friend,” he taunted her, “so what makes you think it’s gonna work for you?!”

Kaitlyn slowly got back to her feet, determined to make some sort of dent in the guard, at least to silence him, if nothing else. _And he is my_ cousin, _you dolts!_ The two locked gazes, entering into an impromptu staring contest, as the blond-haired girl strategized. The two circled each other like lions.

Just then, another piercing cry rang out, drowning out a cry of pain, causing both Kaitlyn and the guard to look in the direction of the noise. As he did so, however, the guard’s eyes met with the bottom of a black combat boot, milliseconds before it collided with his face, knocking him backward several feet. Upon noticing who the boot belonged to, a grin overtook Kaitlyn’s face.

“Thanks, Yumi!” she exclaimed, turning to face the Japanese girl with a smile.

“Don’t mention it,” Yumi replied, giving the blond a grin of her own.

While the two traded pleasantries, however, they had inadvertently given Dr. Chantal enough time to finish her work. Emptying the syringe completely, she gently removed it from Ulrich’s arm, as the boy fell limp in the guard’s. He tenderly placed him onto the floor, gently propping his back up against the wall.

Yumi gasped at her downed boyfriend. _Tough guys…_ she growled relentlessly. “Jeremie, Ulrich is down!”

“This isn't Lyoko, you know,” Odd retorted.

“Did I ever tell you, Odd, that you're pretty when your teeth sparkle?” Ulrich asked numbly, not looking up at him.

It took all of Odd’s willpower not to laugh at the nonsense his roommate had spouted. Gulping down his intense cackles with a blush flooding his cheeks, he muttered, “Yeah, sure, let's go with that.”

Aelita's eyes widened, trembling. “J-Jeremie?”

He looked back at her. “It's okay, Aelita. He’s merely stunned,” he gently murmured. “We aren't going to give up. We haven't given up then, we won't do so now!”

She nodded, taking a deep breath to calm the inner torrents of fear that sloshed all around her stomach and heart. “You're right. The fight has to go on, with or without Ulrich.”

“Yeah!” Odd exclaimed.

“One down, seven to go,” Doctor Chantal noted under her breath, dispensing the syringe she used on their friend in a sharp objects biohazard bin.

Whatever fears or grievances Sissi had for Ulrich in that moment quickly faded into anger and rage. “Leave him alone, ya hear?!” She growled as though someone had rudely pulled her from a good night’s sleep, marching toward one of the guards.

“If we lose another one, I’ll have to jump in,” Jeremie whispered to himself. “Time to see what Jim’s commando camp training has done for me if I do.”

“If something happens to you, we’ll avenge you, Einstein,” Odd muttered to him. “No way will we lose Cassidy!”

His eyes widened as he turned toward his wildcard friend, keeping close to his girlfriend’s bed, an appreciative smile gracing his face. “Thanks, Odd.”

“Hey, would I be your friend, if I didn’t have your back?”

Aelita’s eyes suddenly widened, the pink-haired girl feeling something tighten around her hand. She blinked, seeing the one she held increase its grip. _Cassidy?_

Patrick, meanwhile, recovered from the attack and rose to his feet. “You wanna piece of me?! Well, let’s tango!”

“Hey! Let me go!” Sissi protested, squirming around in the guard’s arms. In her anger, she forgot about how many guards there were, making her an easy target to grab from behind.

Dr. Chantal chuckled mirthlessly, as she approached the guard’s newest captive. _Oh, how nice… Our second in a short minute… This is getting to be easier than we thought._

Yumi gasped, and with a piercing yell, similar to one she would make when throwing her tessen fans on Lyoko, launched herself into the guard. This caught the man by surprise, as the two collided, knocking the guard off his feet, and sending him onto his back. The geisha, on the other hand, found herself unable to stop soaring, before landing onto the floor near the barricade.

“Oh, no, Yumi!” Aelita cried, trying to walk toward her friend.

“No! Don't move, Princess!” Odd ordered, putting a hand toward her chest. “Yumi's tough as nails. She's handled much worse than this.”

She nodded, keeping herself in place.

While Yumi struggled to her hands and knees, and the guard she forced to the ground shaking off his bewilderment, Dr. Chantal, realizing that there was no one to stop her, began to inject Sissi with the sedative. As she did so, the guard she had previously knocked to the floor soon got onto his butt, before standing up. His eyes quickly fixated on the fallen geisha, and began his approach, an evil grin decorating his face. Yumi’s eyes followed the man, her mouth agape, hoping against hope that her muscles would allow her to lift her body before the man could arrive.

Unfortunately, her attempts to escape the guard, and her impending capture, turned out to be in vain, as the man lowered himself to her level, and lifted her into the air, before wrapping his arms around her and pressing her back against his chest. She slowly began to squirm, yelling at herself to make more of an effort to get free, despite the fact that the rest of her body refused to cooperate.

It was at this point that Dr. Chantal had succeeded in sedating yet another Warrior, before walking toward her third victim. Jeremie’s eyes widened as Sissi’s body became limp, the doctor gently removing the syringe soon after.

Swallowing his nerves, he ran around the barricade. “Wish me luck.” His insides rattled.

“May the force be with you!” Odd called out.

Just as the genius came into view, his eyes grew bigger, seeing his cousins tackled and held down by two of the guards. He raced for them. “Patrick! Kaitlyn!”

On his way toward them, as sudden as a freight train, the third rammed his knee into his back, slamming the genius into the floor. While the guard kept the blond pressed down, a pair of black shoes soon flooded his vision.

“Checkmate!” Dr. Chantal smirked, reaching into her pocket. “Looks like you've lost our little game of chess. It was a valiant effort on your part. Can't you all see that it's for the best? Do you want your friend suffering needlessly forever? It's time for you all to let Cassidy go.”

Jeremie’s eyes widened as the doctor finished her sentence. Why was she this dead-set on pulling the plug on Cassidy? He and the others knew that she was going to pull through, even if the current circumstances looked bleak. After everything they had been through with her, they knew this wasn’t the end. The doctors, on the other hand, had very little emotional attachment to her, or them. He was aware of this, as they were required to be this way, lest any death have damaging effects to any one of the doctors’ psyches. But he knew he couldn’t leave the choice up to them. They had to make a choice, and they weren’t about to let them shut off her life support. He had to do something, whatever the consequences, even if his body lacked the strength and stamina of Ulrich’s, Yumi’s, Odd’s, or even Aelita’s. Today would not be Cassidy’s death day!

Suddenly, before anyone was able to make another move or even another sound, an excited scream pierced the air.

“Doctor Chantal!!” It was Aelita, bearing a grin that threatened to separate her face.

At the mention, Dr. Chantal called from the other side of the barricade. “What is it, Miss Stones?”

“Cassidy's eyelids just moved!” Odd announced. This time, he wasn't even joking as he did when he and his “cousin” were attacked by robots.

The guards let go of the Belpois Clan. Patrick and Kaitlyn helped their cousin to his feet, before racing over to gather their fallen comrades. Patrick gently helped Ulrich get vertical, while Kaitlyn allowed Sissi to use her body as a crutch, both to stand up and to walk over to the side of Cassidy’s bed.

As the room’s other occupants began to gather around the once-dormant psychic’s bed, Cassidy’s eyes began to rise, ever so slowly.

Ulrich trembled, his eyes slowly becoming clearer and clearer, as he beheld the wondrous sight in front of him. _Can it be?_

Watching the brunette’s attempt to open her eyes, the female doctor offered Jeremie a wet cloth, which he immediately handed to Odd. The wildcard patted his girlfriend’s head with it. _This is it!_

“Come on, Cat Girl! We’re here for you,” he encouraged.

“Every single one of us,” Yumi and Ulrich chorused.

“We never left your side,” Jeremie whispered, gently putting her glasses on her face. She might need to see through her lenses.

“Never.” Aelita's voice shook with anticipation.

The eight conscious Warriors, two slowly recovering from the effects of sedation, along with the three guards, and the two doctors all gathered around Cassidy’s bed, waiting for the psychic brunette to awaken. The anticipation in the room slowly continued to increase, as its occupants waited for her eyes to open fully.

And after several minutes passed, Cassidy suddenly blinked, cracking her eyes open.

The genius immediately glanced into them, worried that she was still under the control of her dangerous power. His fear was not unfounded; her eyes had been white when she closed them, before entering her comatose state. However, what he saw excited him greatly.

“What is it, Einstein?” Odd asked, worried about his girlfriend.

“They're brown!” Jeremie exclaimed, the excitement in his voice reaching a fever pitch. “She's back here with us!!”

Her eight conscious friends nearly exploded with excitement, at this revelation. After three long, grueling months, filled with ups and downs, nightmares and dreams, happy, sad, and crazy moments… their waiting had paid off. Everyone yelled and cheered for her, as though she won the lottery. Cassidy was back!

Cassidy looked around her. “A-Ae-Aelita? J-Jeremie?” Her voice cracked and rasped, but not as badly as when her powers had taken over her mind and body. “W-what happened? I—”

Jeremie's eyes gushed overboard with tears, the tremendous excitement far too much for the genius to handle. “W-we will e-explain everything later…”

Odd hugged her, intense waves of joy and relief emanating from his being, causing the boy to tremble. “W-we're just so happy to h-have you home.”

After the wildcard had released her, giving her a gentle kiss on the lips, the samurai launched himself at her, wrapping her up in his arms. Cassidy's eyes widened. “Samurai, are you okay? You're not usually this touchy feely. Even when I hugged you on the bridge, you stayed stiff as a board.”

He grinned at his old nickname. “Yeah, Cassidy.” His eyes, bloodshot from the drug, glistened with tears.

“Ulrich, are you drunk? You're too young to drink!” Cassidy gently chided.

“If ‘drunk’ means ‘sedated,’ then Ulrich is definitely plastered,” Odd quipped.

Aelita embraced her first roommate, tears streaming down her face, as she found it nearly impossible to control her emotions. “Oh, we’re so glad to have you back, Cassidy!”

“Back? Did I go somewhere?” Cassidy creased a brow.

Yumi ruffled her hair. “Absolutely not.”

Soon, everyone’s cheers shocked Sissi back to normal. With her mind and body completely cleared, the principal’s daughter then suddenly found herself in a similar emotional state as Aelita, as she flung herself onto the psychic and sobbed happily, a grin slicing through the lower half of her face. “Oh, Cassidy!”

“What happened to you, Sissi?” she asked, questions swirling around her mind, prompted by the former snob’s appearance. “Did someone replace you and Ulrich with clones?”

“XANA had nothing to do with this,” Sissi replied.

Cassidy's brows shot up to the ceiling. In all the commotion, she began to wonder if she was dreaming. “Wait, what did you just say?”

“I just said, Cassidy, darling, that XANA had nothing to do with this.”

 _Cassidy, darling?!_  The psychic brunette was shocked. “H-how do you know that name?! And why are you so nice to me?” Given her history with the principal’s daughter wasn’t always rainbows and butterflies, her change in attitude came as a massive surprise to Cassidy.

Sensing this, Yumi gently massaged the confused brunette’s shoulders in an attempt to get her to relax.

Odd looked at the principal's daughter, eager to aid Yumi in her quest to try and calm his novia. “Sissi, do you think that you can get Cassidy something to drink? She must be parched. If you can find a Dr. Pepper…”

“Say no more, Odd.” She nodded and walked out of the room.

Once Sissi had left the hospital room, Cassidy trembled. “What the Hell's going on here? Sissi's nice now, and she knows XANA’s name?! Ulrich's crying and hugging, looking as though he had been drinking, despite the fact that he’s underage, and possibly having a gay old time?!”

The wildcard chuckled. “Oh, relax, Cat Girl. As we said before, we'll explain later.”

Patrick patted her leg. “We promise.”

Cassidy soon gained a moment of reprieve, as the room fell silent. Her eyes then began to dart all around it, taking in its features and accommodations, only to find a critical component of Jeremie’s, something he rarely left his room without, was missing. “Jeremie, where's your laptop? You're never without it.”

The genius of the group shrugged. “I must have left it at the school.”

As Jeremie replied, Dr. Chantal raised the psychic brunette’s bed to a sitting position, fluffing her pillow. “It's great to see you, Miss McGuire.”

“I'm glad to see you, too,” Cassidy said, having lost a part of her confusion, as the guards re-arranged the beds back into their original positions.

Once she finished attending to Cassidy, the dark-haired female doctor then walked over to Jeremie’s side, adopting an embarrassed look, as she bowed her head, slightly.

“I wanted to… apologize, for losing hope on your young friend,” she lamented to the blond genius. “We shouldn’t have counted her out when we did.”

Jeremie looked at her, feeling contempt for her treatment of Cassidy, as well as the squabble the eight had engaged in to protect her. He was amazed how long it took her to finally realize that they were right, and just now she was finally admitting she was incorrect?

“I’ll understand if you don't want to forgive us just yet,” she added, her tone lowering in disappointment.

Dr. Chantal then left the room, Dr. Porter and the guards in tow. She had lingering feelings concerning Jeremie’s refusal to forgive her and the other doctors right away, yet part of her knew that the genius and his friends needed time to think things through; to deal with all the stress and trauma of their decision, and the excitement of the brunette’s awakening.

Besides, she had some good news to give the principal and the gym teacher.  

Kaitlyn gently rubbed her roommate's back. “Everything will be alright, Cassidy.”

“I guess so,” Cassidy muttered. “But I just don't understand for now.”

Jeremie smiled. “Anyway, have you noticed something?”

A look of confusion plastered her face, as she tried to consider the possible meaning to Jeremie’s statement. What should she have noticed? She was awake, she was surrounded by the greatest friends she had ever known, as Odd would say, and she was in a hospital room. What could Jeremie possibly mean?

After a few moments of deep thought, she suddenly realized what he meant, punctuating this realization with a gasp. “My voice! It's back!”

“Yeah!” Aelita and Yumi cheered.

“But how?”

“A miracle…” Odd answered. “And it's so great to hear it again, Cat Girl.”

A couple minutes later, Sissi returned with the bottle of Dr. Pepper. “Here you go, Cassidy, sweetheart.”

Cassidy blushed as she received the drink, still not used to seeing this side of Sissi, much less being on the receiving end. “T-thank you? B-but…are you okay?”

“Hey, take it easy, ya hear? We don't want your head exploding,” Yumi cooed into her Savior’s ear, worried about her getting too surprised.

“That would be an awful mess to clean up,” Odd nodded.

Before the calmness could set in once more, Cassidy’s brain suddenly sparked to life, in an effort to recall everything that had happened, prior to the long, black hole that was her coma. She imagined herself in Jeremie’s room, warning the blond genius of events she had foreseen, such as William’s second XANA possession, their final battle against the evil A.I., and subsequent mistreatment of William the day after. Her mind then began to sift through the collected data, in an attempt to harvest specific details that might lead to a possible clue. Then she gasped, a thought about Sector Five rushing through her head. “Aelita, is your father okay?”

“Cassidy, calm down,” Sissi soothed, making her own attempt at consoling her. “You’ve got to; your heart rate’s going off the charts. If you don't, you might faint.”

“And my father is still on Lyoko as far as I know, Cassidy.” Aelita rubbed her hand. “He’s still alive.”

“Alive? You mean…ugh…what tangled mess have I come into?” She pulled her knees up to her chest, hugging them as if they were a teddy bear.

“We’ll answer all your questions later,” Yumi smiled. “You’ll see.”

Cassidy took a deep breath, her friends’ consolation techniques finally starting to have an effect on her. “Sorry… This whole thing’s confusing me.”

“Don’t worry,” Jeremie reassured her. “Everything’s okay. I promise.”

“Plus, you have us!” Odd smiled at her. “Meow!”

She smiled, giggling at him.

“You see? Cassidy still enjoys my jokes,” he bragged. “If that doesn’t tell you Cat Girl’s back, I don’t know what does!”

Yumi nodded, suddenly swaying on her feet.

The motion didn't go undetected. Cassidy and Ulrich reached out for her. “Yumi, are you okay?” the psychic asked.

“Bit stirred, n-not shaken…” she muttered.

Jeremie's eyes widened, as he realized the reason for Yumi’s sudden sway. “Oh, right.” While the guard holding Yumi captive had pressed him against the floor, allowing Dr. Chantal to taunt him, one of the other doctors must have given her some sedative, just like they had Ulrich and Sissi.

“Jeremie?” the brown-haired psychic whimpered slightly, her heart rate quickening in panic. “Is XANA launching an attack?!”

His eyes immediately met Cassidy’s, upon hearing her fearful question, before fighting to calm his facial features, fearing he might have already given her a clue as to what had just happened, regarding Yumi.

“Uh, no!” the blond genius lied, hoping Cassidy wouldn’t see through his ruse. “Everything’s just fine. XANA’s actually been quiet the entire time we’ve been here. He couldn’t possibly have activated a tower, now!”

“So he delayed the attack on William, and he didn't—” she quickly stopped herself, once she realized the direction she was headed, fearing any mention of XANA’s destruction by Jeremie’s program might make Aelita cry.

“Sh… It's okay,” Odd soothed. “It's like I told Ulrich the other day. Maybe XANA forgot to pay his own phone bill.” He topped it off with a wide grin.

She smiled, laughing again. “Odd… You're a crack-up!”

Her smiles and laughter came to an abrupt halt, as a flash of worry suddenly struck her eyes, sending a thought through her mind. “Odd, if you're here, who is taking care of Kiwi?!”

“I'm sure that Hiroki might be doing it.” To be honest, he wasn't sure. When he entered the hospital, all his thoughts were centered around Cassidy.

“Don't worry, Cassidy. I'm sure that he's in good hands,” Aelita smiled, her emotions balancing themselves.

“And besides,” Odd jumped in, walking over toward a rolling table, upon which various gifts and cards had been placed, “look at all the stuff we got while we’ve been here!”

“Odd, we were going to wait until after we returned to school,” Ulrich play-warned.

“Ulrich, please,” Sissi giggled.

“Yeah!” Odd joined Sissi in cajoling Ulrich. “There’s a box in here for you, too! Don’t you wanna see what it is?”

He contemplated it for a bit, and then he smiled. “Okay.”

Odd jumped into the air and cheered, handing him his box. “Jimbo sent this one to us.”

“Good ole Jim,” Cassidy grinned. “It's great that he cares.”

Ulrich ripped the tape off the package, opening the flaps. His brows shot high, abeam. “Wow…” He lifted the object out of the box. “It's a katana for my wall!”

“How could he afford that?” Cassidy wondered.

“I bet he would rather not talk about it,” Jeremie and Aelita chorused.

“Here, Cat Girl. This one’s from Mrs. Hertz and Mrs. Mayer.” Odd gently set the box on her bed.

She blushed. “Let's see what they sent.” Cassidy picked at the tape until she could pull it off. Then she opened the flaps. “Mrs. Hertz knitted me a shawl that I had trouble finishing—Wait! She actually finished it for me! I recognize the yarn I used.” Her fingers caressed the intricate loops and soft body of it. “She shouldn't have…”

“See what Mrs. Mayer gave you,” Jeremie encouraged. “Go on.”

She looked deeper into the box and smiled, pulling out another object. “It's a Fluttershy plushy!” She hugged it to her chest, smiling all the while.

Aelita couldn't help but coo at her adorable hugging.

“Aelita, Mrs. Kensington sent you a present.” The genius of the group pointed to another box on the table, which the pink-haired girl took.

She unwrapped the paper and peered inside. Her eyes glistened with tears as she pulled out her elven sleeping companion, rubbing his cheek. “Mister Pück!”

“Aw…” Sissi smiled sweetly as the pink-haired girl rubbed his cheek. Because of the vortex, she now understood how important he was to her, seeing as she slept with Ninin, her stuffed moose, on occasion.

“Chardin sent you something, Odd—more than one, I can see,” Ulrich smiled.

He opened the CD-case-shaped boxes. “It's a compilation of all the short films I made.”

“I do have to admit that Cassidy was great in _Natural Grandeur I_ and _II_ ,” Sissi commented, smiling.

Cassidy’s blush increased; not only was Sissi’s compliment overwhelming, but it also gave her an intense desire to shrink under the sheets that covered her.

“Hey, Sissi, your father sent you something,” Odd jumped in, hoping to distract her so Cassidy could calm down.

The former snob walked over to the table and opened her gift. She smiled as she pulled out the picture of her and her father in the father-daughter race. “Oh, Daddy… It's so beautiful…”

Jeremie soon noticed something sent to him from Mrs. Mayer was sitting on the table. It had previously been obscured by the other packages, but slowly appeared as the others opened their gifts. Taking the tall, thin package in question, he quickly unwrapped the box and beamed. “Hey, Cassidy. It turns out that _I do_ have my laptop.”

“That's a relief,” Cassidy sighed, as though a weight loosened its tether from her chest. There were others, but it was a start.

With the biggest package out of the way, Jeremie took another look at the remaining packages on the table, before finding another peculiar box. “Mr. Fumet sent Yumi a gift, but let's wait until she's better,” he insisted.

“I’m already feeling a bit better,” the geisha looked over at him, slowly getting to her feet, while rubbing her head, softly. She walked over to the strangely-shaped gift on the table, before unwrapping the paper. “It's a kimono in the style of my Lyoko outfit…”

“Yumi, you’re such a lucky girl,” Cassidy and Kaitlyn chorused. They then glanced at each other, grinned widely, and cackled.

“You'd swear that they were separated at birth,” Jeremie noted happily under his breath.

“I know, right, cuz?” Patrick smiled.

Suddenly, they heard thundering footsteps leading up to their room. In an instant, the eight surrounding Cassidy leaped into fighting stances, while Aelita and Odd got into position next to her bed.

Cassidy's eyes widened at her friends’ reactions. “Guys, what's gotten into you? You're acting as though I'm a precious jewel.”


	3. Family Reunion, Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hunter Moebius and I don’t own Code Lyoko or Kaitlyn Belpois. I own Cassidy McGuire.

Everyone immediately relaxed their positions, realizing she had a point. They were acting as though she had gone into a second round of comatose state and the Do Not Resuscitate order had been launched again. “Uh…” Yumi sheepishly smiled. “Odd wanted to see how eight characters could become battle ready to protect a friend for his newest short film.”

“Yeah… _The Survivors of James and the Haggis: A Scottish Tale_ ,” Odd lied.

Cassidy couldn't help but laugh riotously. “That's a funny title…!”

As Cassidy cackled, the door to their room was quickly thrown open, and Odette and Alberico Della Robbia burst in. The two converged on Cassidy’s hospital bed, forcing the surprised psychic to calm herself down.

“Oh, Sweetie.” She raced to hug the brunette in her arms. “When Louise told us what Mr. Delmas told her over the phone, we tried desperately to get over here—all of us.”

“Huh?” Odd and Cassidy chorused. “All of you?”

“Odd!” A quintet of feminine voices met his ears, as Adele, Pauline, Louise, Marie, and Elisabeth Della Robbia rushed over to their baby brother. “We were worried about you!”

“M-me?” The youngest sibling’s eyes widened. He couldn’t believe his ears; did they say they were… worried about him?!

“Oh, my gosh, yes!” Louise cried. “When we heard you and your girlfriend ended up in the hospital, it was not taken lightly.”

“We passed the message on as soon as we heard,” Adele informed. “We almost thought that someone came into the school and injured you, your friends, and girlfriend.”

He blushed.

“You okay, Bro?” Pauline asked.

“I am now, but you really cared about me?” Odd smiled hopefully.

“We just couldn't take that news laying down,” Elisabeth Della Robbia smiled at him. “You're our brother. Plus, we found out that you're a hero.”

“Uh…” The blond was surprised. Did they see the vortex, too?

Marie jumped up and down. “Oh, yes! We saw what had happened, and we couldn't be prouder of our little brother.” She ruffled his hair.

The wildcard was beside himself with surprise. These last few months were a roller-coaster ride of suspense, fear, angst, happiness, excitement, and now, amazement. His sisters had completely changed their attitude toward him, something he wished they would do for the longest time. Now that they had, he wasn’t sure what to feel or even think.

Louise smiled, flipping back her long, purple hair. “Also, we brought someone.”

“Oh…?” he asked.

Adele put her fingers to her tongue and whistled, and in an instant, everyone heard itty bitty claws tapping into their room. Cassidy, who was wrapped in Odette’s warm embrace, while enduring a gentle hair ruffle from Alberico, craned her neck to see who it was.

Everyone instantly recognized the sound of a very familiar, high-pitched bark. “Kiwi!” the gang rejoiced, Jeremie's voice piquing higher.

The little gray dog raced forward and jumped on his owner's chest, licking his face. _Odd! Master!_

Cassidy grinned wider, as she watched the scene. “He really missed you.”

Odd was too busy laughing to care; the only thing that mattered to him at that moment was that dog and owner had been reunited after months of separation.

Yumi beamed, her own smile capturing only a fifth of the happiness Odd was feeling presently. “Lucky dog…”

“Literally,” Cassidy agreed, giggling.

Ulrich bent to his downed roommate's level and petted his dog. “Where would we be without you, Kiwi ghost?”

Odd smiled at the antique moniker. “Yeah!”

Kiwi then whined, stopped licking Odd’s face, and trotted over to Cassidy's bed, before quickly realizing it was higher than the ones in Kadic. He tried to leap onto it but ended up flat on his back on the floor, whimpering.

Sissi put down her picture frame and helped him up onto the bed. “There you go.”

Cassidy petted the little puppy. “It's great to see you, Kiwi, always.”

 _I missed you so much, Cassidy,_ she heard the dog reply in her mind.

Overwhelmed with joy, her eyes welled up with tears. “I missed you, too, Kiwi…” she sobbed happily, sniffling.

Odette giggled and gave her a handkerchief. “Here, Sweetie. And don't worry about giving it back. I have plenty of these at home.”

Alberico waited until she had calmed down to hug her. “If you need anything, we'll always help as much as we can.”

“Thanks, Mr. and Mrs. Della Robbia,” she smiled.

“Call them ‘Mom’ and ‘Dad’ if you want to, Cassidy.” Adele grinned at her, cradling her in a gentle embrace. “You're always welcome to spend the holidays with us.”

“Just as long as you don't lock us in the bathroom all night for kicks,” Cassidy fretted.

“Those days are long gone, Sweetie.” Odette kissed her on the temple. “Trust us.”

“Thanks, Mrs.—I mean, Mom,” she grinned sheepishly.

Alberico smiled at his son. “You treat her so well, Odd. I'm proud of you.”

Odd scratched the back of his head, blushing.

Marie giggled. “Our Ninja-Cat Boy.”

Cassidy's eyes widened in surprise once more. _Ninja-Cat Boy?! That’s_ my _nickname for him because of his Lyoko outfits. How do they know about that?! Did they go public with the Lyoko secret or what?_  

After more pleasantries had been exchanged, it was soon time for the seven Della Robbias to take their leave. Jeremie, Aelita, Odd, Cassidy, Ulrich, Yumi, Sissi, Kaitlyn and Patrick didn’t want to see them go, but they were pleased that they had dropped in, regardless, and bid them all farewell.

After a small reprieve, another set of footsteps came to their ears, only these were fewer, and calmer than the ones before. Instead of a parental figure or two, a single black-haired figure gently stepped in.

“I hate to interrupt, but is this the right room?” It was William, bearing a grin, as well as an object behind his back.

“William!” Ulrich cried out in pleasant surprise, as the black-haired boy entered the room. He hadn’t seen him in ages, it seemed.

“Great to see you, Ulrich.” He grinned, walking over to the side of Cassidy’s bed to join the others. “Are you doing okay, Cass?”

Cassidy nodded. “I’m sorry if I worried you.”

“And I’m sorry for breaking up with you on false charges.”

“Huh?!” Her jaw dropped.  Considering she read him the Riot Act a while ago, almost acted like a complete psycho toward him for not following the rules and protocols of Lyoko, and the fact that he made her fear him before going under XANA’s control in the middle of their first semester, she was astounded by his behavior. She thought he had her on his list of people he held a grudge against, and no amount of love would be able to heal any of the wounds.

“Let’s just say I had a weird dream a while ago. It was totally weird, but it gave me the truth about what you really did the day of the End of the Year Dance,” William replied before he reached forward to caress her face.

However, before he could initiate contact, Sissi caught his hand in hers. “Sorry, William, darling, but I don’t think that you should touch her right now, considering what you did to her.”

“Lay off, Sissi,” Cassidy warned, relieved at seeing that her personality hadn’t completely turned sappy. “He’s on our side, now. I trust him.”

She released her grip. “Just tell me when he goes too far. I’ll have the nurses throw him out in a heartbeat.” Her voice turned into a vindictive whisper.

 _Since when is she_ this _protective over me?_ Cassidy wondered, trying to stop the surprise from leaking onto her face. _The only friends who would protect me when they could are Yumi and Odd. I’m always happily protecting Aelita._

“Believe me, Sissi. If anything, I could always push the button for security to take care of that for us.” She smiled.

“Let’s not call them just yet,” Jeremie cut in, uneasily, and a little too quickly, raising slight suspicion within Cassidy.

She gave him a weird look, in reply. “I wasn’t dreaming of it, Einstein. What’s wrong with everyone today?” _Everyone sure is acting as though Aelita passed her role onto me, and I’m not even connected to the Supercomputer._

William gently rubbed her face. “You all gave me a big scare, but the biggest scare came from you, señorita.”

The shock caused Cassidy’s cheeks to redden. “I-it did?”

“Yes. For a while, even Jim was scared that you weren’t g—”

“William! She just woke up,” Yumi chided, abruptly cutting him off. “Don’t scare her.”

William shrugged, then whispered into his ex’s ear, “Everyone’s a bit out-of-sorts today.”

“I know, Ex-y,” Cassidy muttered. “Sissi’s nicer to me than usual, Ulrich looks drunk, Yumi had a dizzy spell for no reason, everyone has at least once or twice cried themselves silly, and one time, they acted as though Aelita and I exchanged roles. And now, Jeremie’s suddenly scared of hospital security.”

“I’d give it a week. At least then, this whole thing will calm down,” William suggested.

“I hope so.” Then a thought hit her. “What’s that behind your back, by the way?”

He pulled his other hand forward. “I made sure to pick something up from Jeremie’s dorm room.”

“What was in his room that—?”

In his hands was a green stuffed bunny. “I thought you might want to have someone to sleep with during the night.”

“Hey, that’s the sacri—mmph!” Odd started to say before Ulrich slapped a hand over his mouth.

“ _Sacred object_ for Cassidy,” Yumi pointedly attempted to finish Odd’s sentence. “Right, Odd? We agreed to not overload her for today, remember?”

Behind his roommate’s hand, the wildcard nodded.

“I don’t consider my Hippity to be that sanctified,” Cassidy giggled, hugging her bunny. “But thank you, William.”

“My pleasure. It’s always great to help a friend who needs it the most,” William grinned as Ulrich let go of Odd’s mouth.

“Everything okay around the factory?” Yumi asked as she hadn’t been there since his rematerialization.

“Mostly. I had to check Jeremie’s manual and give myself a crash course, but there seems to be activity within two of the scanners,” William reported. “I don’t know what it is yet.”

“Do you think it’s a bug?” Odd asked nervously.

“Doesn’t seem like one, but it’s taking a lot of energy into the cabins. I don’t know what to do,” he admitted. “I wasn’t even good at fixing up a mixing board.”

“Make sure to keep an eye on things,” Jeremie ordered, proud of what the former XANAfied Lyoko Warrior was able to accomplish.

William gave the genius a thumbs-up. “Will do.”

“So, how’s everyone treating you at Kadic?” The next question was from Aelita, curious about how the vortex’s projections had affected his daily life at the school, directly or indirectly, yet hoping he wouldn’t give too much information away, just yet.

“Pretty much the same. Milly and Tamiya haven’t left their room in the time since you went to the hospital,” William replied.

“Sounds like they have a ‘super scoop.’” Odd winked.

“Johnny is wondering where Yumi and Cassidy are, but Jim had been adamant about keeping the boarders at Kadic until everyone had at least recovered,” the black-haired boy shrugged.

“In essence, you mean that Kadic had been transformed into the _Catching Fire_ version of District 12 after the changing of the Peacekeepers?” Cassidy asked.

“Not exactly, Cass. Jim has only allowed me to make a jaunt to the factory, the movies, Presto-Burger, or anywhere else but the hospital. He must’ve been afraid of what I’d do if I saw you here.”

“So no electrified fences or anything, just a ban from the hospital until I got better?” the psychic brunette creased a brow.

“It seems that way. He got the news today that you got better.” He smiled, giving her an embrace. “It’s so great to see you, Cassidy. I hope the hospital food isn’t as bad as all that.”

“Actually, she hasn’t tried it, yet, William,” Odd grinned. “She had only just woke up today.”

“What caused me to get sick? Appendicitis? A car careening into Jeremie’s room? XANAfied crows again—?” She shuddered at seeing their tiny beaks flashing in her memory. “—Another killer tire—?” She curled up into a ball, upon remembering what happened. “What?”

“None of them, Cassidy, sweetheart,” Sissi said soothingly. “You fainted and wouldn’t wake up. So we had to take you to the hospital.” It wasn’t a total lie, but it was still as far away from the truth as possible.

“But...why do you all have medical wristbands, as well? Did something happen to you, too?”

“Well, we couldn’t very well leave you behind, Cat Girl,” Odd chuckled. “So we pretended to get sick, so we’d be sent here to keep you company.”

Ulrich raised his arm vertically. “It’s our loyalty to you, Cassidy. We’re Lyoko Warriors, stronger after all. And you know that we would never let you go it alone.”

“Even if my predictions are as annoying as Professor Trelawney?” Cassidy asked despondently, still in her ball.

That shot Ulrich in the heart. Of _course,_ she had to remember him saying _that_. Why did he even say such a stupid thing in the first place? Her powers were useful when they needed them. She even told everyone that she never used them to cheat in a card game, and she was true to her word. Sure, he had been under stress at times, and he sometimes took it out on Cassidy, particularly when she had a vision that coincided with one of those moments, but no matter how crazy things got, her powers proved to be the best part about her.

“Sorry that I said that, Cassidy. I shouldn’t have said those words in the first place.” He shook his head. “Your predictions are really cool. Never doubt yourself.”

She looked at him, their pairs of brown eyes locking with each other. “You really think so?”

“Yeah,” he smiled. “Plus you totally helped me with Yumi that day.”

“Even though you thought the bet had been rigged because of my powers?”

He scoffed lightly. “Come on, Cassidy. You are a great friend. Plus, we needed a little fun in our lives.”

Yumi nodded. “We sure did.”

“You even taught us how hablar español,” Odd grinned.

“I do remember writing one sentence in Spanish to Jeremie,” Cassidy said in a considering tone.

“Yeah, but that was because you lost your voice, Cassidy. And now you’ve managed to get it back,” Jeremie smiled gently.  

“Must've been some fainting spell.” She shrugged.

“You better believe it!” Odd replied, a grin slowly forming on his face. “We almost thought you had been turned into _Sleeping Beauty_!”

“And a kiss from my Prince Charming? Did it work?” Cassidy asked.

Odd shot the others an uncomfortable look; he didn’t think that his girlfriend would turn his question back on him, in such a way that the desired answer would be one they were loath to give, right away. How would he get out of this one?

“Oh…” Cassidy frowned downheartedly. “I guess it didn't work.”

“Of course it did, but the kiss had a long way to travel to your heart,” Aelita smiled.

She grinned, her first roommate's words soothing her, and uncurled herself from being in the fetal position.

However, her calm, happy moment didn’t last long, as a familiar voice soon broke into the conversation, sounding slightly fearful.

“Um...Jeremie? You gotta check this out.”

It was William. In the middle of Cassidy’s, Odd’s, and Aelita’s conversation, the black-haired boy had sat down in front of Jeremie’s laptop and had discovered something that surprised him.

The genius of the group turned his attention to him. “Huh?! What's going on?!”

“I hacked into the security cameras at the factory, and we seem to have visitors.” He opened a window on the laptop’s display, which showed a live camera feed of the scanner room. “Look at what it came up with.”

Aelita knelt down beside the formerly XANAfied Lyoko Warrior. “What is it, William?”

“We’re about to find out soon enough,” Jeremie commented.

She nodded and watched the footage. Two of the cabins’ doors slowly opened, steam and fog emanating from each, just as they would when releasing a freshly-materialized Lyoko Warrior. A tall, silhouetted figure slowly staggered out of the middle cabin. “Who could it be?” she whispered to herself.

“Who is it, Aelita?” Cassidy asked, reaching for her, but feeling the tug of the intravenous line connected to her arm.

“No, don't, Cassidy. Easy,” Yumi warned softly but urgently.

The smoke slowly cleared from the middle scanner, and from that moment, Aelita's eyes widened, as she immediately recognized the figure that was revealed. “D-Daddy?!”

It was then that a lightheaded sensation took over Cassidy's entire body, causing her to fall off the bed.

“Cassidy!” Kaitlyn yelled, catching part of her.

“Press the button, quickly!” Yumi ordered Odd.

He did as he was told, and in a matter of minutes, Doctor Porter rushed in. “What happened, children?”

“She got too hot, sir, and she fainted,” Sissi lied, not wanting Jeremie to lose his laptop privileges.

“I’ll get her some lighter bedsheets. Let me know when she wakes up,” he ordered as he left the hospital room.

After a couple minutes had passed, Cassidy's eyes slowly opened. “Was I dreaming or did I hear that Aelita’s—d-dad…?”

“Hey, easy, Cat Girl, remember? Aelita did say he was alive, right?” Odd patted her shoulder as Ulrich ran out of the room to find Dr. Porter.

Cassidy nodded, her brain still trying to process the sights and sounds she experienced, prior to her fainting spell.

“I enhanced it as much as I could,” Jeremie announced. “It's Franz Hopper, not a polymorphic clone, or a XANAfied ghost. It's Aelita's father in flesh and blood.”

The pink-haired girl’s emerald green eyes glistened with tears, a smile on her face. After years of waiting and praying for his return, she finally had a chance to see her father, hug him, and even enjoy his presence. She couldn't wait to tell him about all the adventures she had with her friends.

“B-but how?!” Cassidy sputtered, her jaw dropping to the floor. She couldn’t believe her eyes. Her brain was nearly frying itself, just trying to comprehend what her eyes were telling it. Was this a dream, fantasy, or was it really happening? What had caused this change of events to occur?

“Another miracle has happened in France,” Sissi smiled, twirling around the room happily, as though her father said “yes” to using the gymnasium for a weeklong party instead of just a night.

“First, Sissi's considerably nicer to me than ever before, then Odd’s sisters respect him, then William apologizes for breaking up with me, and lastly Aelita's father stepped out of a scanner. What's next?! One of us having a day at the beach?” Cassidy was quickly becoming flabbergasted, as she continued to wonder what she missed.

“It's going to be okay, Cassidy,” Kaitlyn soothed.

“Plus, you can finally get the chance to meet him,” Aelita smiled, her heart racing in excitement. “I'm sure that he's just happy to be free from XANA's clutches.”

“He’s been a prisoner to him for a long time,” Yumi agreed.

Cassidy nodded, just as Dr. Porter came back, Ulrich not too far behind him, and changed her bed sheets. “I just can't believe it.”

“You're not the only one!” Jeremie smiled at her, unable to contain his pride. “Everything is going to be alright now.”

Sissi yawned, exhausted from the trials and tribulations that had happened in the time since the vortex had been unleashed. “If it's okay with everyone, I'm going to bed.”

“It's fine, Sissi. You probably need your beauty sleep, anyway,” Yumi smiled, gently leading the former snob to her bed. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Yumi.” She replied, before whispering into her ear, “I'm so glad that Cassidy woke up today.”

“Me, too.” Yumi agreed, nodding. “Our efforts paid off in the end.”

“Yeah, they really have. Also, if he shows up, wake me. I would really love to meet him.”

“Will do.” The geisha tucked her in, gently whispering, “ _Oyasumi,_ Sissi. And thank you for helping us. We’ll never forget this, and neither will you.”

“Must’ve been a tiring day,” Cassidy commented quietly.

“It's been that way since you fainted, Cassidy,” Jeremie softly whispered, lowering his voice to avoid disturbing Sissi.

She blushed at the sentence. “But not you, Jeremie. You always kept typing away all night long, risking everything, including your health, as you rarely got a good night’s sleep.”

It dawned on Jeremie that she had a point. He recalled the many times Ulrich and Cassidy caught him passed out atop his keyboard, including one occasion where a few of its keys had left indentations on his forehead. “Things were different then. This is nothing, compared to what had happened.”

“It’s been rough on all of us,” Yumi admitted.

“I would think so. Strange that I fainted on you in your room, Jeremie. I’m not usually that way,” Cassidy said.

“You did say you had the same nightmare every night. Maybe you ended up passing out because of exhaustion?” the genius suggested.

“It was tough to dream peacefully at night without the Dream Barrier Destroyer. I don't know if it's the case, but I think it's gone—the barrier that surrounded my good dreams,” Cassidy remarked, curiously.

“Huh? You mean you might be able to dream happily again?” Ulrich’s jaw dropped to the floor.

“I think so.”

“That's great, Cat Girl,” Odd smiled. “You deserve some peace after that v…” Immediately, the others shot glares at him, once they sensed the direction his sentence was going, forcing Odd to change tactics, “v… v—very bad dream you had for months.”

Ulrich’s glare was powerful enough that it spoke for him. Just staring at the German-named boy, Odd could hear in his head, almost as though Ulrich was a telepath, “Slip up one more time, and you are dead.”

“It was a nightmare, but Emily's will always be worse than mine.” Cassidy blushed, still remembering the time she had missed part of Jim's commando camp.

“Ah, no, yours ended up death-defying,” Ulrich soothed.

The psychic brunette looked at him. “It was _gentler_ than hers, Samurai.” She shuddered. “And all the details… She should make horror films in the future.”

Odd smiled. “I can picture it now: Emily Le Duc presents… _A Nightmare to Die For_ …”

“I’ll bet it becomes quite a blockbuster,” Ulrich quipped, chuckling quietly. “And maybe she wins an Emmy or something.”

“Strange that she never actually went through the stuff that happened in her nightmares. According to her, she's had a typical childhood,” Jeremie winced. “Both parents live together and love each other and her. No trauma. No abuse. It's weird.”

“Maybe she needs the Dream Barrier Destroyer more than I do,” Cassidy suggested.

The genius smiled warmly at her. “That's a fantastic idea.”

“Really?” She braced herself, expecting him to reject her idea.

“Yes, plus she could always dream more peacefully and make our counselor less afraid of other students coming in to discuss their problems and nightmares with him—as long as they don't mention rats.”

“I don't think he ever got over his fear of rats,” Odd sighed.

“Especially since she started dreaming about them, Mr. Klotz has been locking students out of his counseling room.” Cassidy copied Odd’s motion, laying down on the bed.

“That's not a good sign,” Jeremie noted.

“I swear he took one look at me, thought I was her, and slammed the door in my face. I don't have any resemblance to her.”

“Your hair is more like Ulrich’s shade than hers,” Odd smiled.

Ulrich blushed slightly, as the bloodshot look in his eyes disappeared, the blood seeming to travel from his eyes to his cheeks. “ _Hey!_ ”

“It’s true. The more you two squabbled, some people peg you two as brother and sister more than just friends,” Jeremie ascertained.

Yumi quietly chuckled, before calming down, as another set of footsteps filled her ears. Turning around, she found her parents, Takeo and Cho, and her little brother, Hiroki, standing in the doorway.

“Mr. and Mrs. Ishiyama,” Cassidy blinked.

“Cassidy, how are you?” Cho asked. “Are you okay? Mr. Delmas tried to find us time to visit you and everyone else, but the only ones who were allowed were your parents.”

“M-my parents?” Cassidy’s heart raced. _What is happening here? Mom and Dad can’t afford to come here._

“Mom, please, take it easy on her.” Yumi stepped to her friend’s bed.

“Sorry, dear.” She took a step back.

 _I think we should limit these visits. Cassidy’s getting overloaded tenfold just as soon as she calms down one micron,_ Jeremie thought to himself. _Now she looks like she will explode._

Indeed, Cassidy’s insides rattled as she struggled to breathe. All of the commotion was beginning to take its toll on her ethos, which had already been fragmented by her coma, bringing her disastrously close to a mental breakdown. This she wanted to prevent at all costs, especially around family members of her friends, even if Cho was like a second mother to her.

Sensing her friend getting dangerously close to a meltdown, Jeremie approached Yumi's mother and father. “Um… Sir, ma’am? Cassidy is more sensitive than she normally is at the moment. Maybe giving her some room might help her out. She has had a long, anxiety-inducing day, and the stress is getting to her.”

Cho looked over Jeremie's shoulder, her eyebrows raising out of curiosity.

Odd sat by Cassidy, doing what he could to get his girlfriend to relax.

“There, there, Cassidy,” he cooed, giving her a slow, soft back rub. “Just think of the big, hot fudge sundae Rosa will want to give you, when we get back to school.”

Cassidy's eyes slowly returned to a calmer state. “Or her chocolate chip pancakes?”

He grinned wider. “Yeah! I know how much you love them. And the hot chocolate with extra drizzle?”

She took a deep breath. “That was the greatest, even if I thought my luck had taken a turn for the weird.”

“It seems your friend has it all sorted out,” Takeo smiled at the genius.

“She has all of us,” Yumi smiled.

The two parents looked at each other. “Let us know when you want us to sign you out, okay, dear?” Cho asked. “Hiroki does have something to say to you, however.”

Hiroki smiled. “Sis… I saw your adventures on Lyoko…”

Surprisingly, his sister wasn't even remotely shocked by this. It was almost as if she had seen it coming. _Of course he has seen it,_ she thought to herself.

“And I gotta say, you're thousands of times cooler than any video games I have ever played,” he said.

Her brows shot toward the ceiling. “You mean it?”

“Of course! You know me, Sis. I might bug you every now and then, but you're always going to be a hero in my book.” He flashed double peace signs at her, before turning to Ulrich. “Same thing goes to you, Ulrich! And be sure to treat my sister like a princess, okay?”

“HIROKI!!!” Yumi nearly screamed, her cheeks reddening in surprise, as her brother’s statement had caught her off-guard. Her sudden outburst startled Ulrich, who swore he had never heard Yumi yell that loudly.

Cassidy flinched as well, accidentally pinching Kiwi, who jumped off the bed with a piercing whine, causing Odd to begin an impromptu chase after the puppy, almost tripping over William. Jeremie raced over and caught the wildcard, while Aelita gently scooped up the scared dog.

Shockingly, Sissi remained asleep throughout the chaos.

“Sorry, Kiwi,” Cassidy blushed, now worried about how her novio would react to her treatment of his diggity dog.

 _It's okay, Cassidy. It was an accident,_ she heard the dog reassure her in her mind.

“Accidents happen, Cat Girl. Plus you have shown me time and again that you love to take care of Kiwi,” Odd smiled gently at her.

Cassidy caught her breath. “Thanks, Odd. Thanks, Kiwi.”

“ _No hay problema, señorita_ ,” he murmured into her ear.

“That turned to chaos fast,” Hiroki deadpanned.

Yumi glared at him. “Oh, you have no idea, Bro.”

“You should've seen it when we had rehearsal for _Cyrano de Bergerac_ that one time,” Odd grinned as Aelita handed him his puppy.

“Actually, Odd, I did.”

Cassidy tried to tune out the rest of the conversation. Having to deal with too many things at once had her feeling a bit lightheaded and queasy.

Kaitlyn soon noticed this, and began to softly rub Cassidy's back. “You doing okay, girl?”

“Barely hanging in there,” she admitted. “So many questions… A lot of stuff happening at once…”

Patrick came up on Cassidy's other side. “We’ll answer them soon. Right now, you need some time to recover.”

“You're probably right.” She then cringed when Kaitlyn hit a certain spot on her back. “Kaitlyn… please, not there…”

She quickly pulled her hand back, surprise flooding her face. “Oops! I forgot about that scar.”

“You didn't have to quit, but be careful with where you rub.” She took a deep breath, unclenching her fistful of sheet.

“You seem very sensitive right there. Are you sure that it's not infected?” Odd noted.

“You were the one that cleaned and patched up the wound.” She looked at him.

“But you end up balling a fist every time someone touches it, as though you will hurt someone,” Ulrich pointed out.

“And it's made you cry out in agony twice,” Jeremie walked up to her. “Do you mind if I take a look at it?”

She blushed and lifted her long hair out of the genius’s eyeshot. In the midst of being put on life support, Cassidy's clothes had been exchanged for a hospital gown.

Jeremie untied the middle knot, to get a better glimpse at the scar she got when the vines attacked her. From anyone else's perspective, the scar looked absolutely unremarkable; it looked like a plain mark that stuck out on her skin. Nothing out of the ordinary. “Now, I’m going to touch it, but please don't punch me when I do.”

“Jeremie, dear, are you sure you should be doing this?” Cho asked.

“It might put an end to a mystery,” Kaitlyn interjected. “Besides, my cousin is very smart.”

“I trust him,” Aelita whispered.

Takeo looked at them, nodding, before closing the door, to be sure that he wasn't disturbed or interrupted.

Cassidy held her breath. She hoped that she didn't end up accidentally giving her friend a black eye.

“Here we go.” Jeremie took a finger and pressed gently on the scar on her back.

Even if Jeremie barely applied any pressure to her scar, it still felt like a thousand thorns attacking her at once. Cassidy winced, the sides of her mattress buckling under her strong grip. “J-Jeremieeeeee…?”

“It's okay, Cassidy. You're doing great,” Aelita whispered into her ear.

Jeremie felt along the ridge where the rock had scraped her original scar from when he was under XANA’s control. Nothing strange popped up or out of it. It looked like a normal, healthily colored scar. “Hm… We can't use the scanners right now, but as soon as we can get to the factory, we’ll have to examine it further.”

“T-that's great, Einstein, but c-can you stop t-touching me there?” Cassidy’s voice strained, as waves of pain continued to course through her entire being.

“Yes, of course.” Jeremie lifted his fingers and re-tied the knot in her gown.

Instantly, Cassidy released the sheets in her fists and breathed deeply. “Sorry. I don't like anyone feeling at my scar.”

“I could see how sensitive that was a mile off,” Hiroki nodded.

Yumi gasped, looking at her brother. “How did you tell?”

He smiled smugly. “Remember when I talked to her and Ulrich about Milly? A while before that, she squatted over her vision journal, and she wore a sweater similar to yours.”

Yumi stared bemusedly at her Savior. That was an interesting fact he spouted.

Cassidy blushed. “I was trying out new outfits, really. You all were going to change into some new ones anyway, and I didn't know what felt right until I accidentally ‘borrowed’ Odd’s pants.”

“Anyway, I would have had to be born blind not to see how much that looked like it hurt.” He grinned as he closed his eyes, acting as though he should be rewarded for an arrogant action.

“I cleaned that wound every day,” Odd noted. “Except when Cassidy went into shock about William.”

William’s cheeks flooded red, the memory producing a similar effect in his brain. “Is that what happened after I kissed her on Lyoko?”

“She was so far gone, she didn't attend classes for a week,” Ulrich answered. “It was thanks to Yolanda that she even came out of it at all.”

“All she could think about was trying to figure out why you kissed her,” Aelita nodded.

“XANA tried to give her the solution to the mystery, but she refused for the sole reason of cutting out the middleman,” Jeremie cut in.

“Plus, I knew what he was up to, and I didn't listen,” Cassidy smiled. “Had I taken the deal, he would have probably possessed me, taken me over to his side, and probed my powers.”

“But that's all behind you now,” Odd grinned, rubbing his girlfriend’s shoulder.

She nodded. “Yep.”

William sighed, quietly. He didn’t realize that he caused his ex-girlfriend this much pain, from a simple reaction to seeing her Lyoko outfit for the first time. He was relieved that she had been completely resistant to XANA’s tempting offer, however. As thoughts about that one moment raced through his mind, he glanced out the window, noticing the sky had darkened completely.

“It's getting very late,” William muttered, closing Jeremie's laptop. “I should probably ask Yumi's parents to take Kiwi and me to the dorms.”

Cho looked at him, upon hearing his request, a feeling of mistrust skipping into her heart. He broke Cassidy's heart and caused her so much trouble; why did he have the nerve to ask her and Takeo if they would take him back to the school? Would it even be considered safe to drive him to Kadic?

“Mrs. Ishiyama.” Cassidy looked at her, reading her hesitation from her face. “He’s on our side now. I trust him.”

She nodded, relaxing slightly. “I just don't want him to hurt you again.”

“He won't,” the brunette smiled.

With an affirming nod, Takeo gently took Kiwi from Odd. “We've been taking care of him since you came here. Your sisters came to pick him up.”

“Thank you, sir,” Odd replied with a smile, which his girlfriend soon found contagious.

The four visitors nodded, soon deciding it was time to leave. After briefly saying their goodbyes, in an attempt to help Cassidy relax, William handed the laptop back to Jeremie, before leaving the room, after Takeo, Cho, and Hiroki. Once the door had closed behind William, the tension in the room began to drop.

“I don't know what the heck is going on, but things have definitely changed around.” The psychic brunette nodded, once the room’s occupancy load had returned to only herself and her eight friends.

“You better believe it, Cat Girl,” Odd smiled. “You could say it's changed for the better.”

Ulrich nodded.

Jeremie suddenly walked to the door. “I'm going to ask the nurses to stop all visitors until tomorrow afternoon. That might help you, Cassidy.”

She smiled. “Thanks, Einstein.”

He left the room.

Cassidy held Fluttershy and Hippity to her chest, but felt an empty sensation. She winced, looking at her boyfriend. “Odd, I uh… C-could you… Ugh! Why is this so hard for me to ask?!”

“Do you want me to lay next to you?” Odd attempted to finish her sentence.

She nodded sheepishly, a blush adorning her cheeks. “Please?”

Odd had to admit she bore a striking resemblance to what Milly would look like if she had been a brunette—scared and vulnerable. “Of course, Cat Girl. Odd the Great, the Brave, the Magnificent, will gladly and valiantly protect his girlfriend from any frightful nightmare or night terror that plagues her sight.”

Cassidy giggled at his speech. _Yeah, Odd Della Robbia is back to his normal self. Bragging, funny… the works._ “Thanks, Odd. You really are my knight in shining armor.”

“No problem, Cassidy.”

“Don't you mean a jester’s outfit?” Ulrich cracked.

Odd glared at his roommate. “Hey! Ulrich, you're lucky we aren't on Lyoko right now, or I'd let you have it! Laser Arrow!”

“Guys, please,” Cassidy attempted to silence the two.

“Cassidy's right, guys. We don't want to overload her, like what our visitors had done,” Aelita agreed.

Yumi nodded. “Plus, we just got her back.”

“I still don't know if I went anywhere—or even if I took Jeremie's midnight train going anywhere, either,” Cassidy blinked, a cloud of confusion covering her eyes.

“Oh relax, Cat Girl!” Odd soon joined her upon her bed, giving her a soft back rub, while being careful to avoid touching her scar. “You’ll figure it all out soon. We don’t want you to overwork that head of yours.”

“Yeah, maybe you’re right,” Cassidy replied, reclining herself as Jeremie returned to the room. “Maybe I'm overthinking a lot of things too soon.”

“You need to take it day by day,” Jeremie smiled. “The nurses told me that they will let visitors in tomorrow afternoon, not before.”

“Three groups of visitors in one day definitely had its effect on you, Cassidy,” Yumi agreed, as she approached the other side of Cassidy’s bed, to give the brunette a soft, gentle shoulder rub.

“If it weren't for the fact that I haven't had anything to eat so far, the feeling of being overwhelmed would probably make me green around the gills.” Cassidy relaxed with Yumi and Odd’s gentle touches, but her cheeks flooded with redness.

Jeremie winced as though Emily punched Odd’s lights out again. “That would probably look bad.”

“And I know how much I hate the fact I am _esbelta_ ,” she muttered, remembering what Rosa had told her the day her luck turned weird.

“Your weight is fine, Cassidy,” Jeremie soothed, picking up her hand and rubbing it with his other one.

“We wouldn't want you any other way,” Aelita smiled.

Cassidy nodded, yawning. “If you both say so.”

“William was right about one thing. It is getting very late,” the genius of the group found her yawning contagious.

Yumi and Ulrich nodded, starting to walk each other to their beds.

Aelita held Mister Pück in her hands as she and Kaitlyn walked to theirs. “Good night, Cassidy. It's great to have you back.”

“I guess in a way, I'm glad to be back,” Cassidy smiled, still unsure of what they meant when they said that.

“ _Oyasumi_ , everyone.” Yumi rolled onto her side, closing her eyes.

“ _Dulces sueños_ ,” Cassidy replied.

Odd climbed onto her bed, resting his head on her chest, smiling at the sound of her heartbeat. He just got his girlfriend back from a dangerous situation. This was a great night for him. “Good night, Cat Girl.”

“Good night, Ninja-Cat Boy.”

Ulrich smiled as he watched the scene. Now he could sleep without nightmares about losing his friend. Slowly, his eyes shut, his arm subconsciously reaching out for Yumi.

In a similar manner, the geisha’s arm extended her reach to touch fingers with the samurai’s. A smile etched itself upon her face. Her Savior had just returned.

Jeremie was almost out like a light, staying within reach if Aelita needed him. He didn't know if she would have a nightmare, but she was welcome to join her knight in glasses if she needed to.

Kaitlyn and Patrick gave each other a quick and quiet high five. Their beacons of hope had been through the wringer, but they worked out in the end. They climbed into their own beds and fell asleep.

Aelita watched Cassidy for a couple minutes. She came through, just like she told Doctors Chantal and Porter. Her nightmares of losing her best friend and constant sisterly figure were now nonexistent. “It's thanks to us that you're alive,” she murmured quietly as a single tear of joy dripped onto her pillow. Thanks to the vortex, whether Cassidy knew she unleashed it or not, she had earned a happy ending.

The next morning, Cassidy awoke from a restful sleep to see Odd’s arms wrapped around her waist. For a moment, she almost thought that she was back in Kadic Academy's dorms, but a cursory glance around the room told her otherwise. Then in a quick motion, her eyes brightened as she realized something, and a smile flitted across her face. _I dreamt happily? That was so great! I haven't had a good dream in ages. What luck!_

She gently kissed Odd’s spiky hair. _Whatever they said about me returning, I guess I missed Odd’s hairdo._ She gently played around with it, rubbing a strand between her fingers. _Despite the gel he puts in it, his hair still remains so soft…_

Odd, meanwhile, slowly awoke to find someone stroking his hair. _Who's that…?_ His eyes opened and slightly looked up. _Oh, Cassidy is awake… Cool._ Then a thought hit him like lightning. _Oh, that's right, she woke from her coma last night! That's going to take some getting used to from now on, or my name isn't Odd Della Robbia._ “Good morning, Cat Girl.”

She grinned. “Good morning, Odd. Did you sleep well?”

“Better believe it! Better now than I have been in a long time.”

She teased, “Another round of potato epidemic nightmares?”

Odd didn't know how to answer that one. She had him there.

She giggled playfully, but silently. “Relax, Odd. I'm just kidding.”

He cracked a grin. “Good on you, Cassidy.”

It was then that Sissi rose from her slumber, yawning as she stretched. “Morning, Odd. Morning, Cassidy. Still hoping you—” she blinked, then remembered. “Oh, that's right. How stupid of me.”

Cassidy detected no notes of sarcasm. “I don't think you are stupid, Sissi, whatever you were about to say.” _Everyone acting weird around me, check_.

Sissi nodded. “If it's all the same to you guys, _I_ will buy us the hot chocolate this morning.”

“Don’t forget that there are nine of us this time, Sissi,” Odd reminded her.

“Got it, Odd,” she smiled as she walked out of the room.

Cassidy blushed. “She's been nice?”

“Happened when you fainted, Cassidy,” Odd whispered.

She nodded. “I guess I'm still used to us being up in arms at each other's throats.”

“Yeah, but she has turned over a new leaf, Cat Girl.”

Cassidy looked at him. “So it seems that I'm—or we—are in her in crowd?”

“Looks like it,” Odd muttered.

Ulrich slowly opened his eyes next. “Odd, could you keep it down? Talking to your c—oops.”

“He's been talking to Sissi and me.” The almost-word flew over Cassidy's head. “It’s not as though he was talking to himself.”

Odd smiled.

For a moment, Ulrich looked around the room. “Where is Sissi, by the way?”

“Going to the vending machines, getting hot chocolate for everyone,” Odd smiled.

Yumi rose to a sitting position. “Don't you guys normally sleep in on Sundays?” she grumbled as she opened her eyes. “It's bad enough that we—” She turned to spin her full wrath on the boys, before stopping short as her eyes befell a girl she still expected to be comatose, or worse. This revelation completely erased the anger from her face, replacing it with a grin. “ _Ohayou gozaimasu_ , Cassidy!”

“ _Buenos días_ , Yumi,” Cassidy beamed. “Great to see you.”

“Great to see you, too.” Her eyes darted around the room. “And Sissi's…”

“At the vending machines, Yumi,” Ulrich finished for her.

She nodded. When Cassidy was in her coma, everyone had each taken turns getting each other some hot chocolate. Now that Cassidy had awoken from her black hole, Sissi might get her some as well.

“I’m glad that she is getting them,” the brunette agreed.

Patrick and Kaitlyn rose next, the latter putting on her glasses.

“Good morning, two thirds of the Belpois Clan,” Cassidy announced quietly.

“Morning, Cassidy,” Patrick smiled. “Did you sleep well?”

She grinned. “As a matter of fact, I slept great!”

“That's awesome, Cassidy,” Kaitlyn giggled softly.

Cassidy nodded in agreement. “I even dreamt happy dreams.”

Aelita opened her eyes and smiled at her first roommate. “Good morning, Cassidy.”

“Morning, Princess,” Odd beamed. “Sleep well? Cat Girl did.”

“Yes. For once, I didn't have any nightmares,” the pink-haired girl slipped a hand under the sheets of Jeremie's bed. “I had Mister Pück…” Slowly, her fingers found the bottom of the Einstein’s bare foot, as her face contorted into a mischievous grin, “... and my knight in glasses _here_.” She then quickly wiggled them under her boyfriend's sole.

In an instant, Jeremie woke up with a start, laughter erupting from his mouth like an active volcano. Once the giggles had subsided, he sat up and glared jokingly at his sweetheart. “Aelita…” he fake-whined, putting on his spectacles, “That wasn't fair…!”

Her cheeks flooded cherry red, but she winked. “Aw, come on, Jeremie. At least Cassidy is here to see this.”

He grinned as he saw the psychic brunette cackling like a mad woman. _Yep, she still loves it when she sees us having fun and loving each other._

Odd smiled, wiping a tear of laughter from his face. “That was so beautiful.”

Ulrich, Yumi, Kaitlyn, and Patrick nodded, grins erupting from their faces as Sissi returned with not eight, but nine cups of hot chocolate. “Morning, everyone.”

“Morning, Sissi,” everyone replied in unison.

“I just found out the roster of visitors for this afternoon. We have Jeremie's parents and Ulrich's.”

Upon hearing the last two words of Sissi’s sentence, Cassidy winced, her complexion paling as her insides rattled. Sure, she helped him with his homework the best way she knew how, but Mr. Stern still grouped her as a “good-for-nothing.” “I don't know…”

“It's okay, Cassidy. I'm sure you can always tell the nurses to get rid of my father if you want him gone,” Ulrich reassured, noticing Cassidy’s reaction.

She blushed and looked at him. “Could you and Odd stand between him and me when the time comes?”

“What are friends for?” Ulrich smiled.

After breakfast, a nurse walked into the hospital room. “Would you like to see if you can walk around, Cassidy?”

Cassidy nodded, carefully swinging her legs over the edge of her bed. “Let's see.” She gingerly set her feet on the floor, instantly feeling a wave of imbalance washing over her being.

The nurse walked over by her side, gently helping her off from her bed, before acting as a crutch, in order to help her keep her balance.

Odd immediately went over to Cassidy’s other side, placing one hand atop his girlfriend’s other shoulder, and his other against her other side.

“Let me give you a hand,” he commented, almost asking the nurse for permission, informally.

The nurse nodded, in reply. “Just be careful with her.”

“Oh, you know me,” Odd replied. “I’m always careful.”

Behind their backs, Jeremie, Aelita, Ulrich, Yumi, Patrick, Kaitlyn, and Sissi rolled their eyes. _We do know you. That's the problem._

Cassidy frowned, her mind overhearing their simultaneous thoughts. Even if she knew they were merely being silly, she didn’t feel their comment was appropriate, which was possibly the reason why it was merely a thought, rather than a vocal comment. _Thanks for the vote of confidence, guys._

She took her first step, aided by Odd and the nurse, who softened most of her wobbling, as she tried to gather her sense of balance. Her legs felt nearly like gelatin, a by-product of having laid horizontally for a little over three months. Had she not been held up, she was liable to fall, breaking a bone or two.

Yet, despite months of disuse, she slowly found the strength to take another step, followed by another. Her legs slowly began to cooperate, the sensation slowly wearing off.

Beside them, the other seven watched with mixed fear and pride. When she began to regain control over her legs, the hospital room came alive with cheers and smiles.

Cassidy's eyes widened, as the joyous noise filled her ears. Her friends were all right there with her, excited that she would soon be able to walk normally, once more, which excited her in turn. A grin slowly began to blossom across her face, at this thought.

“You’re doing great, Cassidy, dear,” the nurse smiled at her.

“She has done amazing things before,” Yumi grinned.

A blush flooded the psychic brunette’s cheeks. “Yumi, it was nothing. You guys are the real heroes.”

“You are as much a hero as we are, Cassidy,” Sissi nodded, tears glistening in her eyes.

“B-but… I couldn't save Yumi from her XANAfied classmates.”

“So what?” Ulrich walked to her and placed a gentle hand under her chin. “You did a lot more than what we could do combined.”

“I—” Cassidy soon found herself at a loss for words, overcome by the surge of emotion that Ulrich’s reassuring statement brought on.

“Come on, Cassidy, eighty-seven MegaTanks?! No other Warrior has even made it to your level,” Jeremie smiled.

“I—I was just defending Franz Hopper's tower. Nothing more, nothing less. Plus he helped me.”

“And you coming to Aelita's defense as soon as I came on the scene. That took guts,” Sissi proclaimed.

“It was one of the reasons why I wanted Aelita to be my roommate in the first place. Plus, she would, as Cher once sang, ‘sleep alone,’ and I couldn't have that.” Cassidy felt like shrinking.

“Lessening my dog's sentence from two weeks to two days?” Odd smiled.

“Kiwi didn't have a lawyer. Who else would step up to the plate?”

“Taking on that bet Odd and my boyfriend made, even though it tortured you into a nervous wreck? You hung tough, no matter how bad it felt,” Yumi grinned.

“And deactivating that one tower that was becoming increasingly difficult for me to get to? Incredible,” Aelita added, happily.

A lightheaded sensation skipped inside the overwhelmed brunette. “Um… Nurse, c-could I g-get to my bed, please?”

“Of course, dear.” She and Odd helped her to her bed, easing her gently into a reclining position. She fluffed her pillow. “We’ll change your pillow this afternoon before the guests arrive.”

“Thanks, ma’am,” Cassidy smiled appreciatively.

“Anytime you need something, press the button.” The nurse smiled, leaving the room.

Once she had closed the door to their room, Odd spoke first. “That was too much praise, guys.”

Ulrich scratched the back of his head, a pink flush flooding his cheeks. “I guess we did kinda lay it on a bit thick.”

“Thicker than my _War and Peace_ -sized notes I had Yumi use,” Jeremie agreed.

Yumi nodded. “Those were a lot of notes to wade through.”

“Anyway, sorry about that, Cassidy. We should have thought it out a bit more, rather than just throwing it all on you like a pile of coats on a bellhop,” Sissi said.

She nodded slowly. “I'm not used to that much praise. If you remember, Sissi, besides the group, and family of, only Milly and Tamiya see me as a friend. Most of the students see me as weird.” Cassidy frowned, as she finished her sentence.

“Ooh… I have half a mind to report them to my father for bullying you! I had no idea that they thought of you like that.” The principal’s daughter folded her arms in anger, amazed that she was just now finding out about this.

“Even Julian Xao glared at her for quietly suggesting that they were too loud,” Jeremie noted.

“And even though he saved her life, Bastien yelled at her while the doctors examined her and Aelita,” Ulrich sighed.

“Bastien is a total halfwit!” Sissi growled, the new information sinking into her brain. “Cassidy, darling, you don't have to worry about a thing when we get back to Kadic. I’ll make sure you and your friends get the royal treatment from here on out.”

She flipped her hair over her shoulder, her expression turning sour as she continued. “Yelling at someone getting examined when they almost drowned. The nerve!”

“And he didn't even apologize after Jim ripped him away from them,” Jeremie sighed.

Cassidy sniffled, still remembering the cruelty that Bastien put her through. Tears sprang to her eyes. “If it weren't for my powers, I'd probably never met the best group of friends. But he still hurt my feelings.”

Odd embraced his girlfriend. “You better believe it, Cat Girl. I never heard such language come out of his mouth to attack you.”

Cassidy wrapped her arms around him, trembling.

For the moment, Odd closed his eyes and hummed gently to her. It was a lullaby his mother sang to him when he was very little. His hands gingerly rubbed her back in big and little circles, caressing her sides as he made his way to them. He wanted her to feel better again.

Slowly, Cassidy's tight grip loosened as she began to relax, as she felt a feeling of warmth surround her. “Odd?”

“It's okay,” Yumi's voice, rather than Odd’s, came to her ears. “I think he’s got the right idea.”

Ulrich smiled at his treatment of his girlfriend. “Odd, you are doing great.”

Odd grinned, letting Cassidy go. “I think a nap will help her. It is for a good cause.”

Cassidy closed her eyes, bringing the wildcard closer to her.

“I think she wants you to stay with her, Odd,” Jeremie whispered.

“You're right! I should stay with her,” he nodded, climbing up on her bed, head on her chest. “Her heartbeat is relaxing. Too bad she couldn't record the sound to help her with her nightmare.”

“I guess that the device she used wasn't able to pick up those types of frequencies.” The genius of the group shrugged.

“That's true. Cassidy tried to record her heartbeat with her iPod. When she listened to it, it only picked up voices from around her,” Aelita nodded.

Sissi sighed, gently stroking the brunette's hair. “It's great to have her back, though.”

Patrick nodded, keeping his voice low. “I still can't believe she unleashed that vortex.”

“Me neither,” the seven echoed each other's thoughts.

“She clearly doesn't remember doing that,” Sissi whispered. “Therefore, we will not tell her until she is ready and definitely not before she is. Do I make myself perfectly clear?”

Everyone nodded.

“Don't worry, Sissi. It'd wreck her if we revealed it right now,” Kaitlyn smiled.

“And I don't think it's time to reveal it, either,” Aelita agreed.

“She has been very delicate since she came out of her coma.” Yumi joined the principal's daughter, placing a hand on her shoulder. Nearby, the brunette snored softly, attracting the attention of Ulrich.

“Odd… did you teach her that?” he teased gently.

“Actually he hasn't,” Kaitlyn answered for him. “She is a cute snorer.”

Aelita grinned. “Just as long as you don't catch her on her—”

“Hermione, careful where you put your wand… You don't want to lose a buttock,” Cassidy murmured in her sleep.

“—too late,” the pink-haired girl chuckled quietly, her point having been made.

Ulrich looked at Jeremie, grinning from ear to ear. “Did _you_ teach her that?”

Jeremie's cheeks flooded red. “Not a chance.”

“It only happened before the barrier around her dreams appeared,” the elven warrior reassured. “When it went up, she stopped sleep-talking altogether.”

“So is that the most sensical thing she’s ever said in her sleep?” Odd whispered.

Aelita nodded. “I remember the shortest one she said, and she doesn't even remember saying it and waking up.”

“And that is?” Ulrich asked.

“She sat up in the lab, and yelled, ‘Yep.’ It made me jump several feet off my chair,” Jeremie smiled.

“I thought XANA had attacked her, when Jeremie jumped,” Aelita admitted.

“So this was when you were still on Lyoko?” Sissi asked, trying to connect the dots.

The elven warrior nodded, smiling.

“She didn't say anything last night.” Odd added, remembering that she slept without a single peep leaving her mouth.

“It was an exhausting night for her,” Jeremie said in profound thought.

“It was one for all of us, cuz,” Patrick nodded. “Fighting to keep her alive was one thing, but we now have her alive and awake.”

He nodded.

“I hope she stays that way from now on,” Sissi jumped in, sounding relieved. “It’s like I’m getting to know the real Cassidy McGuire for the first time ever, and I don’t wanna lose her again.”

With this, she slowly approached the sleeping psychic, before stopping by the side of her bed, near Odd, and gazing at her. It was only a couple of days ago, that the brunette had been in a similar position, only they knew that she was merely sleeping, rather than comatose, this time. Still, this did nothing to stop Sissi from worrying about her. It also felt strange: here she was, worrying about a girl she had barely gotten along with, before the vortex’s arrival, as if she had been like a sister to her, ever since she first came to Kadic. Sure, Cassidy avoided her boys’ shower hazing ritual, but the bond now had strengthened in its own way.

Odd also felt slight amazement, at what seemed to be Sissi’s “transformation”, to him. He called her a butterfly in his _Mandibles and Purple Mauve_ short film, but it wasn’t meant to foreshadow anything; having seen a similar metamorphosis come out of the girl in question almost stupefied him to the core. Was this even the same Sissi, that used to pick on him and his friends, that once kissed his nose angrily when she told him Cassidy had been (temporarily, though they didn't think it was at the time) moved up to Yumi’s grade, and only ever had nice, caring moments when danger was afoot? Did this even qualify as one of those times? He could think about it over and over, dozens of times, and still have great difficulty comprehending it. Maybe the last three months were just some sort of big joke, that she had probably picked up from him. But yet… something within him told him that it couldn’t be.

He thought back to the day that Cassidy’s powers summoned the vortex. When Mr. Delmas and Jim brought him and his friends into the infirmary, she was already in there, and he remembered how incredibly frazzled she looked, repeating an endless loop of falling on the cot. As surprised as he was that she felt that way, he sympathized with her, because he and his friends weren’t any worse for wear. That was where her change in attitude began, from what he could remember. Then she hugged him in the room they currently resided, apologizing through tears of regret and remorse. Given how she had been feeling and acting, especially in regard to Cassidy, if she wanted to revert to the mean, bratty attitude that he knew best, she would’ve had ample time to get into it, and something such as giving Doctors Porter and Chantal the green light to cut off Cassidy's life support without a second thought would’ve been a great example. Instead, he found her engaging in one selfless act after another, exhibiting a kind, friendly, protective, big sister-like demeanor the entire time, which was something he had very rarely seen. And it didn’t stop there; she brought every single one of them hot chocolate this morning, even for Cassidy, and she only took one cup for herself. If Sissi had been her usual bratty self, she would have been more likely to have tempted him and the others with them, before drinking them all by herself. She would have agreed to what Cassidy said about the other students acting as though she had caught the plague, while casting her own ignominious opinion upon the hapless girl and making her self esteem drop lower than its current level. She could have made fun of her sleeping with stuffed animals, even if it had made her out to be a gigantic hypocrite, since she did the same on occasion. But not only was the new, improved, non-snobby Sissi not doing any of those things, she also thought quite highly of Aelita’s choice to sleep with her beloved Mister Pück. All she seemed to be doing was one nice thing after another, as if she truly had turned over a new leaf.

Perhaps most notably, over the last couple of months, she even managed to drastically cut the number of showers she took per day to only one, which would have saved everyone plenty of hot water, back at Kadic. Not even Ulrich could ignore that.

 


	4. Family Reunion, Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hunter Moebius and I don't own Code Lyoko. I own Cassidy.

Yumi was also a witness to Sissi’s supposed metamorphosis as well, and almost as surprised by it as Odd was. For the longest time, Sissi rarely had a nice thing to say to her, and yet ever since the start of their hospital stay, she had said nothing but nice things to her, and even invited her and the entire gang to a spa treatment. It was so unreal to the Japanese girl. She wasn’t complaining, yet after the roller-coaster ride that was the vortex, and Cassidy’s coma, she wasn’t sure whether to suspect supernatural forces at work, or to wonder if she had been “replaced by a clone,” as the psychic brunette asked the night before when she displayed this kind behavior toward her.

Sissi turned to the two. “What? Is there some hot chocolate on my face?”

Yumi blinked. Maybe she was genuine in her kindness and she was overthinking things. “No, Sissi.” She smiled, covering her lie. “We just got caught up with our battle with the guards.”

“I still feel sore in my arm,” Ulrich noted.

“Me, too, Ulrich,” both the geisha and the former snob chorused.

“Maybe you can see if the nurse has something to dull the pain, you three,” Jeremie said. “In the meantime, I’m going to recheck the footage from last night. Might be useful.”

“I’d love to find out how my father came out of the scanners,” Aelita smiled, feeling light as a feather. “To think my premonition was about to come true when Cassidy lost her voice.”

“She did mention a sacrifice.”

“But it didn't happen, Einstein and Princess,” Patrick grinned.

“No kidding. The vortex combatted with the events and won.” Sissi flipped her hair back and scoffed happily. “I can't wait to meet him, Aelita, dear.”

“I am so excited to see him for the first time in years.” The pink-haired girl’s eyes glistened with tears of joy.

Sissi walked over to her and pulled her gingerly into a hug. “And you will, Aelita, sweetie. I don't doubt it for a minute.”

“Why do you want to meet him, Sissi? He's not your uncle or anything,” Jeremie observed.

“Well, my father had employed him to be the science teacher at the school, and he told me that I was much too young to remember knowing anything about him. So, I want to meet him myself, and see if he’s anything like my father says he was.”

“What did your father say he was like?” Aelita inquired, curiously.

“Just that he worked at the Academy until he disappeared, and Mrs. Hertz took his place when he did,” Sissi answered.

“That must have been the day the Men in Black came to our home,” Aelita added, her voice lowering in volume, as the horrifying memory came back to haunt her. “He brought me to the factory with him, and virtualized the two of us onto the Forest Sector, after that.”

“And now, you’ll finally be reunited with your father, once again,” Jeremie said as he opened his laptop, smiling, and invited Aelita to sit with him. He watched the footage from the night before. Everything fell into place for both of the viewers. Franz Hopper stepped out of the scanner, in full flesh and blood. Aelita reacted in the same way as she did before her first roommate fainted. “Daddy?”

“I think we can say that he had someone that saved him,” Kaitlyn smiled.

Jeremie nodded. “Even though she doesn't know it yet, it was Cassidy who saved him from certain doom. She worried that he would sacrifice himself, and that would make you cry, Aelita.”

Aelita grinned.

“She is his hero,” Sissi cheered, a bit too loudly.

Before anyone could try to get the former snob to quiet down, Cassidy woke with a start. “Huh?! Harry?! Dementors?! Expecto P-Patronum!” She yelled.

Slowly, her eyes cleared, seeing her friends look at her as though she had grown a second right foot. “Oops. I guess I'm not at Hogwarts.”

“No you aren't, but I bet you had a wonderful adventure in your dream,” Sissi cooed, stealing away from the pink-haired girl to walk to Cassidy's bed. “It sounds like you had a magical time there.”

The psychic brunette smiled. “I had a wonderful time there.”

Sissi grinned, as she approached the side of her bed, and began gently stroking her hair. “How do you get your hair so soft? No matter how many times I wash my hair, I can’t seem to get it quite as soft as yours.”

“I use shampoo and conditioner. Suave is my favorite brand to use.” Cassidy replied with a slightly sheepish smile, as she fought to contain her purring, without success.

Odd smiled, watching his girlfriend’s attempts to stifle her cat-like reactions. “You're really living up to your nickname, Cat Girl.”

Her cheeks flooded with red. “You lived up to yours, too.”

“But I’m only a cat on Lyoko!” Odd retorted playfully.

“So am I, remember?” Cassidy giggled.

A look of surprise slowly overtook Sissi’s face, as she continued softly stroking the brunette’s hair.

“Do you mean to tell me that Cassidy is part cat?” she queried, confusion and surprise painting her tone.

“No, Sissi,” Ulrich answered. “She is all human. She just does some things that make us think she has some animal parts inside her.”

“I know that she breaks into a galloping stride when she runs,” Yumi added, to which Kaitlyn nodded. “Sometimes she gets to the passage in the park quicker than we do that way.”

“But she purrs when someone strokes her hair!” Sissi noted.

“It's also good trilling practice,” Odd smiled. “You do remember that she speaks Spanish.”

Cassidy nodded. “Sí, Señor Odd.”

The wildcard chuckled, in reply. “I love it when you talk like that!”

“Is that why I went under that one bet with you?” she grinned.

“Both that, and it was fun.”

Jeremie smiled. “It's almost time for lunch, guys.”

“I'm starving,” Odd and Cassidy chorused.

“Oh, great,” Ulrich retorted, with a grin on his face. “Five hours of sleep, and she turns into Odd!”

“That isn't very cool, Ulrich,” Aelita scolded. “She fainted a while ago. She needs all the nourishment she can get.”

Yumi stood beside her pink-haired friend. “Yeah, Ulrich. Cassidy may have woken up from her fainting spell last night, but she needs to get some food into her. She even ate breakfast with us this morning.”

Ulrich grimaced, surprised his joke went over worse than he expected.

“C’mon! I was only joking!” he remarked, holding his hands perpendicular to his sides.

Cassidy scratched the back of her head nervously. “I am pretty hungry.”

“Ulrich, maybe you could get us our lunch.” Jeremie glared at him.

He nodded as he walked out the door.

“Hey, wait!” Odd raised his hand, a grin growing on his face, as he walked over to a desk near the door to their room, upon which sat a telephone, and a few slips of laminated paper. “We’re patients here, aren’t we?”

Lowering his hand, he reached for one of the papers, and picked it up. “Why don’t we call for room service? They can bring our food up to us, just like they did at breakfast time!”

“Right,” Yumi smiled, realizing that he was right. “Ulrich, _anata_ , you don't have to leave the room.”

Ulrich stopped at the sound of her voice, turning around. “I don't?”

“No, Ulrich,” Jeremie smiled. “We completely forgot about room service.”

Odd’s eyes scanned the menu he held, as he approached the others. “And look at all of the food choices! They’ve even got meatballs and gravy!”

Everyone smiled. _Odd and his meatballs and gravy._

Cassidy's stomach growled. “That sounds delicious to me…”

Sissi gave her a sympathetic look. “You're really hungry, aren't you?”

She nodded. “Anything sounds good right now.”

“And they even have chicken wings on the menu,” Odd announced. “I know how much you love chicken, Cat Girl.”

Cassidy's eyes widened hungrily as her mouth watered. “That's perfect…”

“Chicken wings for her. Sushi okay for you, Yumi?”

“Odd…” Yumi teased, “did you forget which country I came from?”

“Chicken for Cassidy. Yumi wants sushi. Ulrich, hey! They have broccoli.”

“Awesome! A good side dish,” Ulrich smiled.

“And do they have Brussels Sprouts?” Jeremie asked.

The wildcard studied the options on the menu, eyes scanning for the item the genius of the group wanted. “Hm… Let's see now…” He flipped it over to the other side. “I don't see it, Einstein.”

“Oh, that's okay. Plus I feel more interested with the meatballs and gravy,” he smiled, not even disappointed his favorite item hadn't materialized as a selection.

“Yes! We have another follower. Sissi, what would you like?”

“A salad works for me,” Sissi answered. “Ranch dressing, too.”

“Odd! I want some ranch to dip my chicken into!” Cassidy blurted out. “I'm sorry I forgot about that.”

“It's okay, Cat Girl. We still have a couple others who haven't given their orders,” Odd smiled soothingly at her.

“Chicken wings sound good, too, with honey mustard,” Patrick answered.

“And a salad sounds great for me, Odd,” Kaitlyn smiled.

“Okay, so two salads, two orders of chicken wings, sushi, broccoli, and two orders of meatballs and gravy,” the wildcard read off, taking on the role of a waiter with photographic memory, before turning his eyes toward Aelita. “Princess? What would you like to have?”

“Hmm… Do they have croissants?” Aelita asked.

“As a matter of fact, they do,” Odd smiled. “Would you like anything with it?”

She grinned and shook her head. “That’s okay. I’m good, Odd. But thank you.”

Jeremie cast an inquisitive glance upon his pink-haired princess. “You sure you don’t want anything? You really should eat something.”

“Yeah, girl. We don't want you to have any eating disorders here and have you extend your own stay,” Kaitlyn stood behind Jeremie.

“I totally agree,” Sissi nodded. “I think Kaitlyn would pass out on us if she saw you ribby and what not.”

The pink-haired girl smiled. “Maybe you all are right. Too much excitement can make someone not hungry, but I think I’ll have the chicken, too.”

Jeremie smiled, reassured. “Thank you, Aelita.”

Cassidy grimaced, holding her growling belly. “Could someone please call them now? I'm starving…”

“Of course, Cat Girl,” Odd smiled.

Once his sentence was finished, the wildcard went to the phone, and their food was soon ordered. It was a short amount of time before it arrived, and the nine friends shortly gathered around to eat. Odd and Cassidy ate voraciously, but only the latter retained her table manners. However, in the end, everyone ate and enjoyed each other's company.

It was an hour after the nine finished their lunch, when two pairs of ascending footsteps came to everyone’s ears. This time, the eight friends relaxed around Cassidy, no longer worried about a possible threat.

The door gently opened to reveal a brown-haired gentleman in a brown trench coat over a black jacket, wearing red pants. He stood by a woman with blond hair and glasses, just like the Einstein himself. She had on a lavender blouse with an eggshell white skirt, and blue slip-on shoes adorned her feet. It didn’t take long for Jeremie to identify the two, his face rising in the process.

“Mom, Dad!” the genius of the group exclaimed.

“Hello, there, son,” Michael, his father, said, as he and Jeremie’s mother, Cadence, walked into the room. “It's great to see you.”

“Oh, Jeremie! You’ve got a little bit on the bottom of your lip,” Cadence fussed, whipping out a tissue and wiping his face with it.

Aelita brought up a hand to her mouth, giggling to herself.

“Mom… Not in front of Aelita,” Jeremie whined a bit, red flooding his cheeks.

She stopped and looked behind her, smiling warmly at the pink-haired girl. “Hello, Aelita. It's great to see you again.”

The elven warrior smiled. “It's great to see you, too, Cadence.”

Cadence nodded.

Ulrich slid Odd a 20 Euro bill. “You win the bet this time,” he whispered to him.

Cassidy smiled. “Hi, Cadence and Michael.”

The Belpois parents turned to her. “Hello, dear.” Cadence greeted her, warmly.

“Where are our parents?” Kaitlyn asked, slightly worried.

“They will come tomorrow afternoon, Kaitlyn, dear,” Cadence answered. “They had work today. Sorry about that.”

She and Patrick nodded, smiles adorning their faces. _At least we won't be forgotten._

“Of course not,” Cassidy blurted out, having read the minds of Jeremie’s cousins, before a blush quickly overtook her face.

“Of course not what?” Michael asked, confused about the brunette’s random outburst.

“Remember, dear? She can read minds,” Cadence smiled.

“Oh, that's right. I forgot about what happened over Christmas break.”

Odd’s jaw dropped to the floor. “Huh? They knew she could read minds, Einstein?”

Jeremie shrugged. “She went with me for the fall holidays before we materialized Aelita. She couldn't read minds then. But after Cassidy and Aelita had a rough run-in with William on Lyoko, when we went home for the holidays, she ended up accidentally revealing that she could read minds.”

“It was so embarrassing,” Cassidy whined, hugging her knees to her chest. “And I was doing so well, too, during that time.”

“It's okay,” Cadence smiled, reassuring the psychic. “You just gave us what you wanted for breakfast that morning. That's all.”

“I didn't think I would end up preempting your question like that. It scared you.”

“Maybe it did, but you don't have to be ashamed of your gifts. They might help people.” The Einstein’s mother walked up to her and gave her a warm embrace. “You didn't do anything wrong.”

“I didn't?” Cassidy’s cheeks held the blush.

“No, Cassidy,” Michael and Jeremie chorused.

“We’re proud of you, Kaitlyn, and Patrick, Jeremie,” Cadence smiled.

The three Belpois kids looked at her. “Really?”

“Of course,” the genius’s father grinned. “Plus, it's great that Patrick and Kaitlyn have settled into Kadic life, as well. You know, it's also where I met the wonderful love of my life.”

“You met my mom at Kadic?” Jeremie couldn't believe his ears. He never realized he was continuing a Belpois tradition all by himself—albeit a bit unconventionally, due to the circumstances that caused him to unintentionally follow in his father's footsteps in the first place.

“Yes,” Cadence smiled. “When we transferred you to Kadic, after what happened at your old school, we knew you had a better chance there than anywhere else.”

Odd cocked a brow. He had never known about Jeremie’s past life, prior to his enrollment into Kadic; so, naturally, he was curious about what his mother meant.

“I met the greatest friends I could ever ask for,” Jeremie grinned. “And I met the girl of my dreams.”

“As they say, Jeremie, if the glove, boot, whatever fits, wear it,” Cassidy beamed.

Aelita let out another giggle, this time at Cassidy’s euphemism. “Cassidy…”

“Come on, Aelita. That was just dying to be said.” The psychic couldn't help but chuckle, finding her first roommate's state of emotions contagious.

Yumi cracked a smile. “You're both nuts.”

“Hey, out of the two of us, Aelita's saner,” Cassidy interjected, jokingly but truthfully.

Sissi smiled at the scene, herself finding it hard to keep a straight face, when presented with the insanity Cassidy came up with. “That's so dumb, it's hilarious!”

The psychic brunette cackled, unable to hold it back any further. “Yeah!”

Cadence smiled. “At least we were able to make your day after waking from your c—”

“Mom!” Jeremie, who was momentarily stunned happy from the chaos that Cassidy unfolded, suddenly snapped back to reality, before his mother could finish her sentence. “She woke up from her _fainting spell_.”

Michael and Cadence shared a look; they knew it was unlike Jeremie to assertively reply in such a manner. He was rarely this forward, and almost never cut either of them off in mid-sentence. What made him want to start, all of a sudden? And why was he referring to Cassidy’s coma as a mere “fainting spell?” At first, they began to suspect a cover-up of some sort: that either Cassidy’s sensibilities were too fragile, or something worse. They could have even been playing some sort of word game, before their arrival. But it also wasn’t like Jeremie to sugarcoat anything. They knew he frequently used big words when speaking normally, and therefore could easily drop a bombshell on someone, even if they hadn’t understood what exactly he said. Yet here he was, talking as one would about the weather, or even their day. They had some idea as to the extent of Cassidy’s fragility, especially when she visited during Christmas vacation, but was something like this enough to send her over the edge?

To be absolutely certain they weren’t about to walk into a minefield, the Einstein’s father turned his attention to his incredibly smart son.

“May we talk to you in the hall, son?” Michael asked, being careful to choose his words.

Jeremie nodded, walking with his parents out of the room, shutting the door behind them. Once they were outside, Michael and Cadence turned their attention back toward him.

“What's going on, Jeremie, honey? Is there something we should know about?” Cadence opened the floor, concerned about their son’s behavior.

“Yeah, everything's great, but for now, Cassidy should not know that she had been in a coma for a while. She might have a meltdown from the overload,” Jeremie whispered, arms crossed against his chest. “She came very close to breaking down last night, in fact. If it weren't for Odd reminding her about her favorite foods at Kadic, she'd probably be hurting herself for answers.”

Michael and Cadence mouthed an “Oh…” simultaneously, fear and surprise overtaking their faces.

He nodded, before he continued. “We just don't want to traumatize Cassidy. We will reveal it, but not before she is ready. And judging from her reactions last night, she isn't there yet.”

The genius’s mother and father smiled and nodded, understandingly.

“So promise me that you will refer to her coma as a fainting spell, and don't mention the vortex, either. That's also in the out-of-bounds area for now.”

“We promise, son,” Michael nodded. “Thanks for clearing the air about this subject.”

“We’ll do our best. You can count on us,” Cadence grinned.

“Thanks, guys.”

Having cleared up his parents’ confusion, Jeremie led the two back into the hospital room.

“Is something wrong, Einstein?” Odd asked, once the three had re-entered.

“No, it's better, Odd,” Jeremie answered.

“At least we could brighten your day,” Cadence added with a smile, as she turned toward Cassidy. “Hopefully today has been better than last night, when you woke up from your fainting spell, Cassidy.”

Cassidy nodded. “Last night was really interesting and intense for me.”

“But now, you have friends who will stand by your side,” Michael said.

“They have always been in my corner,” the psychic brunette agreed, a smile plastered across her face. “I couldn't ask for better ones.”

“Me neither,” Jeremie agreed, his cheeks flooding red.

“I'd say we picked the perfect place to come together, guys,” Odd grinned, sitting on his girlfriend’s bed.

“You said it,” Yumi and Ulrich chorused.

Cadence approached Cassidy’s bed, before gently kissing her on the temple. “You and Aelita are always welcome to spend the summer holidays with us.”

“A winter with the Della Robbia family, and a summer with the Belpois Clan? I think that's perfect!” The psychic brunette nodded, getting excited at the mere thought.

“Keep up the good work, Big Guy!” Michael extolled, turning to Jeremie, before patting him on the shoulder. He then turned to his niece and nephew, repeating the gesture for each. “You too, Kaitlyn and Patrick. You’re all destined for greatness. Don't forget to call us from time to time…especially you, Jeremie.”

“I promise,” Jeremie grinned.

“It's great to properly meet you all,” Cadence smiled.

“It's great to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Belpois,” Yumi agreed. “Jeremie, Patrick, and Kaitlyn couldn't be in better hands.”

Sissi nodded.

“We should go for the time being, but we will drop in later,” Michael smiled.

“Have a wonderful day, Uncle Michael and Aunt Cadence,” Kaitlyn called out, as the two neared the door.

Michael turned around and grinned. “You, too, Kaitlyn.”

“I hope we'll see each other at the next family reunion,” Patrick commented, nodding.

“I'm sure you will,” Cadence smiled.

The two soon reached the door, waving to the nine friends as Michael opened it with his free hand.

“Goodbye, Mom and Dad.” Jeremie waved back, abeam.

The two soon disappeared through the door frame, closing the door behind themselves, as the room fell silent.

As the door shut, Odd cast a curious glance in the Einstein’s direction. “You used to go to a different school?”

“Yeah, but it was before I changed my middle name. I don't like to talk about it much, considering what happened one time,” Jeremie replied with a frown.

“Really? What?” Ulrich asked, his curiosity piquing.

“Some bullies smacked his glasses off, punched him in the gut, and one of them smashed them with his shoe,” Kaitlyn answered. “It hurt his self esteem so much he lost all pretense and threw a fit in his room at home—he was a day student at that school.”

Aelita rushed over and hugged him, both out of surprise that she had never known about this event, and to comfort her knight-in-glasses.

“Oh, Jeremie!” she exclaimed in surprise, as she embraced the blond.

“I would have loved to come up to his bullies and kick their sorry asses,” the blonde continued, her tone becoming dark, as anger filled her eyes and heart.

“Kaitlyn!” Patrick and Jeremie chorused in surprise, appalled by her language.

“Well, it's true! I would have called the police and had them arrested for hate crimes!”

Odd smiled, always the one to find the sunshine in a dark situation. “If they ever show their faces in our school, Einstein, they’ll have to answer to us!”

“No doubt about it,” Ulrich agreed, wrapping an arm around his dorm roommate's shoulder.

Yumi nodded with a grin. “Absolutely none.”

“We’ll teach those bullies that they messed with the wrong genius!” Sissi stood up from her bed and threw a fist into the air.

Jeremie blushed, unused to such loyalty and praise all rolled into one. “Thanks, guys.”

Cassidy nodded. “Plus, we can't lose our Einstein.”

“We _will_ _protect_ our Einstein,” Odd corrected in agreement. “Because we’ll make sure nobody will ever do anything like that ever again! Odd the Great, the Brave, the Magnificent’s seal of awesome approval!”

“No one will ever hurt you again!” Kaitlyn growled in determination, balling her fists to further cement her feelings.

Jeremie couldn’t help the overwhelming feeling of pride that began to well up within him, as his friends pledged to keep him safe. He knew that his friends were true friends, and it was moments like these that further reinforced the trust he placed in them, as well as his cousins, and reminded him of how highly they regarded him. Even if his position was both the ringleader and the programmer, and he lacked the physical strength of the rest of them, he, his friends and cousins instinctively knew they had each other’s backs, and that they all shared a very special bond, that nothing, not even XANA’s many attempts—and the A.I. threw roadblock after roadblock—could break.

A few minutes later, a softer pair of footsteps led into the room. The door opened to reveal a nurse, carrying a bag of IV fluid. “I just need to change hers out. We will see about taking her off tomorrow.”

Cassidy nodded, extending her arm toward the nurse. A nagging feeling within her brain told her that she was ready to go without it, but the sensation was minimal at best.

A few moments later, Cassidy shivered from the chilly feeling in her arm. It reminded her of how Jim tried to keep her hydrated after she passed out, the day she and her then-smaller group of friends had been to his commando camp. She had been sick all throughout that afternoon, but it was thanks to the medicine Jim gave her that her stomach was finally able to settle down, and allowed her to sleep for a while.

“It’ll take a bit to warm up,” the nurse noted apologetically, citing the brunette’s reaction. “But you did a great job.”

“She’s my brave Cat Girl,” Odd smiled at her.

A wan smile flitted across the psychic brunette's face. “I am so glad that my friends could be here, to support me like this.”

Patrick smiled, walking up to her. “Of course, we would be here to help you, Cassidy.”

“Just think about all the love that the other students will give you when we get back to Kadic,” Jeremie grinned.

“But what about you guys? I wouldn’t want to keep all their love all to myself,” Cassidy worried.

Ulrich's brows shot up slightly. “Oh, that's right. You remember how she drowned when we gave her too much praise? She’s bound to get buried six feet under, with all the praises everyone else is gonna give her.”

“I can convince my father to limit the amount she gets,” Sissi posed, smiling pridefully.

“That might be a great idea,” the samurai agreed.

“Plus a limit might help her get used to it,” Aelita suggested.

Cassidy looked at them, abeam. “That sounds like an excellent idea. Good thinking, Sissi.”

Jeremie nodded. “I agree. A good plan to go on.”

A thought suddenly flicked in her head. “I just hope Ulrich's father will take it easy. He scares me.”

Sissi walked over to the hapless girl. “We will call security if he goes too far.”

It didn't take long until they heard indistinct conversation in the hallway. Ulrich sighed, bone-weary as he recognized the voice. “Well, it's showtime, guys.” He pulled Odd to his feet, positioning him to the defense behind him beside Cassidy's bed. The samurai stood in front, taking a deep breath. Nothing in the world could possibly prepare him for what was about to happen. “Aelita, take cover.”

“Huh?” Aelita was curious, yet confused; this was the second time in sixteen hours she had been told to cower. “Why?”

“He’ll chew you like a dog chews a bone.”

“Is he really that tough with you?” Sissi asked, helping Aelita to duck under her bed.

“If Cassidy is sensitive now, once he gets through with you, he might make things worse for everyone involved.” Ulrich nodded.

It fell deathly silent in the room. Jeremie paused his progress in typing on his laptop. Cassidy failed at her multiple attempts to stay calm. She had only heard horror stories about Mr. Stern’s attitude, so the idea of meeting the man face-to-face, particularly while she was in the condition she was in, did not bode well for her in the slightest. She couldn’t help but liken Mr. Stern’s imminent appearance to a sudden visit from the Kolossus, who would rip the ceiling off from their room, before retrieving herself and Aelita, King Kong-style. Yumi joined Odd near her Savior’s bed, squeezing in next to the psychic brunette to wrap her up into a comforting embrace.

Sissi, for the most part, shakily handed Aelita the book Jeremie had selectively read parts of to keep her occupied when her friend was still comatose, her own heart racing a thousand miles a minute. Kaitlyn and Patrick stood at the ready, surrounding the pink-haired girl.

A few seconds passed in tense slowness, seconds which felt like hours. The entire room was soon enveloped in a blanket of fear. Ulrich could almost feel the sweat fall down his temples. _Okay,_ Dad _. We’re ready for you. Come in._ In all honesty, he wanted to face down his own dark clone again, rather than face a Stern Family Reunion, complete with shouting matches and fights that never end.

Cassidy held Yumi’s hand, every muscle tensing. She was even less prepared for the upcoming moment than Ulrich was, if such a thing were even possible.

After what felt like forever, the door opened with eerie slowness. In the doorway stood a strict-looking man with dark brown hair, dark eyes, still wearing the same yellow business suit over a white shirt with a dark red tie. Beside him was a brunette woman with kind eyes. She was wearing a yellow button-down blouse with a burgundy coat over it and a long, dark brown skirt.

Bruno Stern locked eyes with his only child. “Hello, Ulrich.” His voice was neutral, with a slight hint of anger.

“Dad,” Ulrich regarded him calmly. _I see you forgot your happy pill already._

Cassidy fought to hold in every instinct to squeak.

“I trust you’ve been mostly well, since our last meeting.”

“Yup,” Ulrich folded his arms, his own neutral gaze unwavering. “Everything’s been just fine.”

Amidst the storm about to go down, Philipinna Stern walked over to the tense brown-haired girl. “Hello, dear. Everything okay so far?”

“Aside from the blitzkreig about to rip open, I think all is well,” Cassidy trembled.

She took a gentle hand and placed it upon the scared teen’s shoulder. “I think it’s going to go a bit differently than what everyone thinks.”

“I’ve been looking at your grades over the past few days,” Bruno continued, seeming to pull his punches on the surface. “You told me you would improve over the course of a month, and all you’ve done is lift your grades from a D+ to a C+. I expected better from you!”

“I think we’re going to be in the hurricane’s wrath,” Odd noted, trying to keep quiet.

“Have you even looked at my other grades?!” Ulrich’s voice slowly began to rise in tone, nearly mirroring his father’s. “That was only in math! My history and chemistry grades are much higher!”

Yumi watched the drama. Not even one of her parents fights could be compared to the fit that was going to hit the shan. She knew that Ulrich had it rough with his parents. Now it seemed to be boiling over.

“You’ve only gotten Bs in those subjects!” Bruno’s hands began to ball into fists. “How do you expect me to compare them favorably, when they’re not much better?!”

“You really don’t think I’m trying hard enough, do you?!” Ulrich directly challenged him. “You think I can’t do it very well at all, _don’t you_?!”

“Yup,” Odd commented under his breath, wincing at the sight of the battle. “Our little hurricane’s just been upgraded to a category three.”

Not even wanting to reason with the samurai’s father, Jeremie picked his laptop up and moved himself around the bed to join Aelita.

“You don’t even _know_ how hard I’ve been trying!” Ulrich continued, glaring daggers at his father. “You just think that, because I don’t get straight A’s like you did, that I’m somehow not good enough! You don’t know what I’m going through!!”

“THAT DOESN’T MEAN I DON’T KNOW WHAT’S BEST FOR YOU, YOUNG MAN!!” Bruno’s tone escalated to a terrifying level, as he leaned closer to his son, who remained unfazed by his intimidation tactics.

“Bruno, dear! Watch your volume!” Philipinna scolded.

Just as the others had predicted, Cassidy’s will had been broken by Bruno and Ulrich’s intense shouting match, as tears began to fall from her eyes. She had never seen such a display of parental force, and it felt as though there truly was no love between the two, or if there had been, Mr. Stern had a terrible way of showing it.

Sissi, who was uncomfortable, but unfazed by the display, walked over to the psychic brunette's bedside, joining Yumi in embrace. “Just whimper the word, and I’ll have this ingrate thrown out!”

Cassidy nodded, heart still racing.

“Can't you see that you made my friend cry?!” Ulrich verbally shot at his father.

Bruno turned an angry glare, with gritted teeth, toward the bawling psychic for a few seconds, before returning his gaze toward Ulrich, letting out a quiet growl as his eyes closed.

 _Why is he trying to blame this on me?!_ He thought to himself, as he lowered his head, before flattening his left palm against his forehead. _How dare he bring her into this!! It’s only between him and me!!_

“You just couldn't be civil, Bruno, dear. We should be proud of him for what his heroic actions have done, but you just have to be all high and mighty!” Philipinna whispered vindictively.

Bruno’s growling began to slowly intensify, before he raised his head, turning his attention toward his wife. “Do you think saving the world from some sort of… of… computer, is gonna get him into ENS?!”

“ENS, ENS… That's all you want him to be! Plus saving the world is a grander achievement than grades lifting mere increments.”

Yumi nodded slowly in agreement, yet feared opening her mouth to add her own voice, worrying that the conversation was going to take a turn for the worst.

“You can’t put that on a college application!” Bruno shot back. “Hi, my name is Ulrich Stern! I saved the world from a maniacal artificial intelligence! How do you know he won’t get laughed out of France for that?!”

“Bruno, Ulrich has confided in the principal and in me that he doesn't even want to go to ENS. He is just as much a human being as you and I are.”

“Don't play the ‘human being’ card with me!” Bruno gritted his teeth.

“And don't you remember what the principal told us? This precious girl just woke up from her coma, and she is a bit fractured now in her mind. You yelling and getting all tense won’t make her mind fix itself,” Philipinna scolded softly. “For once, forget about his grades! The principal has told me that he has a few surprises planned for when they all return to school, one that might even make you happy.” She scoffed.

Bruno gritted his teeth once more, turning his gaze to the floor as he balled his fists. For once, he wasn’t sure how to reply.

Eyes tightly closed, Cassidy whimpered into Sissi's ear, “Please… keep him away…”

The former snob grinned in such a way that if Cassidy’s eyes were opened, she would have been reminded of the time the principal's daughter had eavesdropped into the conversation between her and Ulrich. She grabbed the button and pressed it. “Sorry, Mr. Stern! But you have crossed the line!”

Bruno’s gaze turned toward the principal’s daughter, surprise making a slight crack in his stone-faced expression. “What are you talking about?!”

“You made my sister so upset that she doesn't even want you in the same room with her!” Sissi proclaimed, flashing fierce bedroom eyes at him. “Maybe if you were a bit nicer to Ulrich, this whole situation would probably never have happened.”

“Sister?” Cassidy's voice cracked in surprise.

“You heard me.”

Now Bruno was more surprised. What was she planning on doing with him? His eyes turned toward the door to the hospital room, and then back to the room’s occupants, starting to get a slight feeling of fear. His gaze turned toward his wife, whose face showed her disapproval with his actions, before he folded his arms.

“You can’t do this to me!” he protested.

Ulrich grinned. “We had planned this for a few hours. I even called Mom to help us when I threw away the trash from lunch.”

Bruno was flabbergasted. His entire family had ganged up on him. He couldn’t believe his eyes, or ears. He was not pleased with the development of the current situation in the slightest.

“FINE!” he yelled, seeing as though he had no way out of the current situation. “Maybe… Ulrich has done well. Especially on Lyoko.”

“See, dear, wasn't that easier?” Philipinna smiled.

“But Cassidy is still…”

“Crying? It's genuine.” It was Aelita this time, popping her head up from under the bed. “She hates it when someone yells like that. She had a moment when William had shouted at her during American History class. It’ll take a bit for her to calm down.”

Odd nodded and hugged his novia, gently rubbing her back. “It's okay, Cat Girl… Just let it all out… There, there…” he cooed into her ear.

“B-but the button…” Bruno interjected, unsuccessfully.

Sissi held it up. For all intents and purposes, it looked real. “A wrapped-up, stripped to the bone chicken wing, with a red toothpaste cap!”

Bruno began babbling incoherently, unable to contain his surprise. “You… you… you…!!”

She giggled. “Fooled you!”

“And Ulrich gave us enough time to prepare.” Yumi stretched her legs on the bed. “Good thing, too.”

“You have a lot to think about, dear,” Philipinna sighed.

“Maybe you’re right,” Bruno replied, adding a sigh of his own, while his tone still carried a slight tinge of anger. “Our son… has done things I never dreamed of.”

“Plus, he’s made a few great battles on Lyoko: Especially with that dark clone.”

Ulrich smiled, a slight blush rising in his cheeks. “He was distracting me from what was really important.”

“He’s right,” Aelita agreed. “XANA was trying to outsmart him, so he could stop Jeremie and me from decoding my father's diary.”

Cassidy, meanwhile, gradually regained some semblance of normalcy, as her breathing slowed and deepened. Maybe there was some love in the Stern family after all.

She opened her eyes to a blur of arms surrounding her. Instead of wondering which pairs belonged to who, the psychic brunette smiled as she reached through and brought them closer. “Thanks, guys…”

“That’s true, but you did destroy him,” Bruno’s face and voice slowly began to soften as he continued, “and I’m sure that’s no mean feat.”

“He also did wonders when he was up against his XANAfied friends months ago,” his mother smiled.

“Why XANA didn't probe my powers is a mystery to me,” Cassidy interjected, “as well as why he possessed me that day. I guess I will never know.”

Bruno let out another sigh, giving the impression that he was having great difficulty in finding the right way to formulate his next response, while turning toward the psychic brunette. “I suppose I owe you an apology, don’t I…?”

“You certainly do, Mr. Stern,” Sissi nodded.

Yumi nodded in agreement.

“See, dear? Even his, as you called them, ‘good-for-nothings’ agree with you,” Philipinna nodded.

Bruno rolled his eyes, disgusted that his wife would use one of his own nicknames for them against him. Heaving another sigh, he turned his attention toward Cassidy, adopting a shameful look that was slightly rough around the edges.

“I guess I’m… sorry… Miss McGuire,” he lamented.

“Cassidy,” she said quietly.

“Hm?”

“You can call me Cassidy, Sir,” Cassidy looked at him. “But, it's okay. I just hope you can lower that expectation bar one day. Being average isn't the end of the world.”

“I just wanted him to have a good future, like I did!” he raised his voice a tiny bit, as he pointed his hands at Ulrich. “Was that too much to ask?”

“Sir, if my intuition is anything to go on, he might have a brighter future sooner than you think.” She winked.

He folded his arms. “And I suppose your psychic powers are telling you this?”

Bruno’s reply caught Cassidy off-guard. She hadn’t remembered hearing Ulrich tell his dad about her secret abilities; how else could he have found out?

“Bruno!” Philipinna scowled. “Have you forgot that she has intuition just like every woman?!”

“I wasn’t questioning that!” Bruno’s gaze turned toward his wife, as his expression softened, slightly.

Cassidy blinked, unable to think. Her mind descended into a frenzy of questions, rendering a blank expression upon the psychic’s face.

Sissi waved a hand in front of her face, worried for her sister. “Odd…?”

“I'm on it!” He grabbed the real button and pressed it.

Doctors Porter and Chantal charged in at once. “What happened?” the female demanded.

“My father said something, then she went into this state,” Ulrich stated.

A look of shock and worry permeated Bruno’s face. “But how was I supposed to know she’d react that way?!”

Odd snapped his fingers rapidly in front of her face. “Cat Girl?” Just as fast as fear started to sink into his entire being, a memory struck him. “A man walks into a fancy restaurant and is seated into a booth. He reads the menu and is shocked that an item isn't on the list. So he calls over the waiter, and asks him, ‘Do you have frogs’ legs?’ And the waiter says, ‘I don't have frogs’ legs! That's just the way I walk!’” He chortled.

In an instant, the questions in Cassidy's mind came to an abrupt halt. A grin spread across her lips as a cackle escaped between them, eyes refocusing. “Odd, I haven't heard that one in a long time…!”

“I guess laughter can help cure something,” Dr. Porter smiled.

Bruno turned his gaze to the floor, feeling more ashamed for what he had done to Cassidy. “I suppose I’ll have to ask your forgiveness, again.”

She blinked once again. “What for?” The lapse from the bombshell he inadvertently dropped took away the memory of the question.

Surprise filled his eyes, as he gave her his gaze, this time. “I might have… said something that sent you into that... catatonic state…”

“Oh… It's okay. Plus, sometimes I zone out badly.”

“It's true. She once sat in the science lab for two hours, staring at nothing,” Sissi noted gently. “She sat through the eleventh grade biology class, even though she was in the eighth grade at the time. Mrs. Hertz didn't even notice her there until after the class was over.”

“That was _one_ time,” Cassidy muttered as Dr. Chantal examined her eyes. “I've learned to control those now. Besides, that's the day she invited me to knit with her.”

 _That’s… very interesting,_ Bruno thought to himself. He then turned to Ulrich, adopting a calm look. “Well, Ulrich… even though your grades aren’t the best, in light of recent events…”

He placed his hand upon his only son’s shoulder, as he continued. “...I’ve come to realize that your friends aren’t good-for-nothings; they show trust, and care very much for you. And having said that, I'm proud of you. Really, I am.”

A grin slowly crept up Ulrich’s cheeks, the samurai unsure exactly how to respond, or feel. This was the first time, in a very long time, if even such a memory existed, that his father had ever behaved in such a way. He had gone from a berating sentence to one that left him feeling something that he rarely felt after talking with his father: pride. His father was actually proud of him. Proud of his deeds on Lyoko. Proud of his friends, and how they and him interacted. Had his father and mother not been in the room, he probably would have exploded from the excitement.

While Ulrich was reeling from his father’s surprising admission, Bruno lifted his hand up from his son’s shoulder, as he turned his unchanging expression on Yumi, next.

“Take good care of him, young lady.”

Yumi nodded, bowing slightly with a smile on her face. “Yes, sir.”

His next target was Cassidy, as he slowly approached the bed-bound psychic, the two doctors leaving the room. “I admit I was wrong about you. You are a special girl. And I don’t want you to take any of your gifts for granted. Use them wisely. Do you hear me?”

Cassidy grinned. “I will do my best to use my gifts for good. I’ve already done it several times over. I vowed to do it like that, and that’s what I will do.”

Bruno nodded, in reply, before walking back toward the door. “Good. And maybe all of you are good for something.”

As he neared the door to the hospital room, he glanced over at his wife, who was embracing their grinning son. _I don’t understand half of the things he’s done,_ he thought to himself, _but I don’t even know how my upbringing even ranked according to that._

Philipinna had her arms wrapped around Ulrich, giving the boy a warm hug.

“I’m proud of you, too, dear,” she extolled. “Just because your father can’t bring himself to hug you, much less even smile, doesn’t mean he doesn’t feel the same way.”

Ulrich nodded, in reply, while returning a similar embrace. “I know, Mom.”

After a few seconds, Philipinna slowly pulled back, but left her hands upon Ulrich’s shoulders, while looking into his eyes. “Now I know you’ve heard this before, but I want you to be good. And don't feel embarrassed about calling me. If you need to talk to me about something, send a text, borrow your friend's laptop to shoot an email, write a letter… anything. I will do my best to help out in any way I can.”

“Yes, Mom,” Ulrich nodded. “And thank you.”

His mother gently kissed his temple, before pulling away, and walking toward Cassidy.

“You be good, too,” she embraced the brunette, soon planting a similar kiss upon her temple as well. “I know you’re in great hands, with all of your friends. I hope you get well soon, and that that computer virus, or whatever it is, doesn’t wreak havoc on you, or your friends, any longer.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Stern.” A smile flitted across her face.

A few more seconds passed, before Philipinna gently broke free from the embrace, and followed it with similar hugs and advices to the room’s other occupants. Once everyone had been embraced, she rejoined her husband near the door to the hospital room.

“We should be going now,” Philipinna commented. “It was lovely meeting you all, once more!”

She raised her arm into the air, gently waving to the Warriors, as Bruno opened the door to the hospital room, allowing his wife entrance to the hallway outside. After she walked out, Bruno walked around behind the door, before turning his gaze on Ulrich, one last time.

“Take care of yourself, son,” he advised. “And take good care of your friends, too. They seem to be taking good care of you.”

The samurai nodded, a smile still plastered on his face.

Bruno added a nod of his own, his calm face softening a tiny bit further, before he gently pulled the door closed behind himself. Two pairs of footsteps could be heard descending into silence, as Ulrich turned his gaze toward the floor, still overcome by his father’s unusual actions.

Odd was the first to make a noise, sighing in relief. “I guess that we can say the damage the hurricane wrought was small time. No need for a disaster relief fund!” he grinned.

Kaitlyn giggled, turning toward the wildcard. “What about disaster relief _food_?”

His smile threatened to separate from his face. “There's always room for disaster relief food!” He chortled. “I like the way you think, Kaitlyn!”

“You okay, Cassidy?” Yumi asked, concerned for her Savior’s well being, ignoring the jokers.

“More questions than answers at the moment, but I guess they can wait,” she smiled a bit.

“That's true. We have all the time in the entire world,” Jeremie said.

“Definitely,” Ulrich agreed.

Patrick grinned. “And the best part about this is that we're all together.”

“That is true, but one thing that I, for the life of me, don't know is what about your mother, Aelita, sweetheart?” Sissi asked gently.

Aelita blinked at her, an unsure look crossing her features. “I don't know. We still haven’t been able to locate her, yet.”

“What will happen to her?” Jeremie noted calmly, asking it more as an aside than a direct question to his sweetheart. “That is a good question.”

“I just hope she won't get in trouble or worse,” the former snob trembled.

“Heaven help us all if we end up kidnapped by those bastards,” Kaitlyn feared, feeling her insides turn to jelly.

“You said it, cuz, even though I don't like your language,” Patrick agreed.

Cassidy held her knees to her chest, her chin resting on them. “I think they would probe me first, and I don't want that to happen!” Her body tensed. “I'm just a regular teenaged girl!” She trembled.

Sensing her distress at the thought of being probed by the Men in Black, Odd, Aelita, Sissi, and Yumi leaped into action. The four converged on the psychic’s bed, surrounding her on all four sides, and embracing her. The cat girl immediately began to relax, as she felt the warmth of four pairs of arms surrounding her tense, trembling body, attempting to ease her worries.

“They'd have to go through all of us to get to you,” Sissi and Odd proclaimed.

“Definitely,” Ulrich nodded, cracking his knuckles. “If you think we’re just gonna sit back and let them harm you, they’d better watch out!”

“We’ve got your back, just like you’ve had ours in the past,” Yumi reassured.

Cassidy looked at the group. “You really think so?”

“Come on, Cassidy. We wouldn't have you hurt in any way, shape, or form,” Kaitlyn smiled.

Patrick nodded. “We can't let it happen.”

The psychic brunette grinned. “How did I land such awesome friends like you all?”

Odd chuckled. “The Supercomputer, of course…”

Cassidy giggled. “Possible…”

Ulrich smiled softly. “I think the school is where we brought you into our group.”

“Please, I think that we came together of our own accord.”

The air grew thick with laughter, thinning gradually with silence blanketing the room.

“What if it's too late to save her?” Aelita worried, breaking the quiet.

“Don't think like that, Aelita,” Jeremie and Cassidy scolded at once.

“If she’s still over there, we can rescue her,” Odd smiled encouragingly.

The brown-haired psychic nodded. “I would be surprised to find Franz in the room with us. I don’t know what will happen. What if he is hurt that I let his only daughter die at XANA’s hands? What if he doesn’t want me to be roommates with her? What if he is disappointed that I didn’t stop William from—?”

“Cassidy!” Yumi shouted, interrupting the anxiety-filled questions the cat girl was spouting. “Calm down.”

She took a breath. “Sorry. I’m worried that, even though he helped me some of the time, he’s unhappy with me.”

“Why would he?” Aelita smiled calmly. “He’s a warm person. He rescued you as well as me that one time.”

She put her fingers to her chin. “True, he did save me, and he helped me deactivate that tower.”

“Ya see, what did we tell you?” Odd grinned. “You’ve done more good than harm.”

Cassidy grinned, straightening her legs. “You’re right. I’m probably overthinking things or letting what that XANA’s clone of Franz said get to me.”

“That was an emotional time, Einstein. Cassidy had random shivers for a week after the attack,” Odd nodded.

“It wasn’t my fault that he decided that I should be electrified and then suffocated.” She winced, the memory flashing in her mind. “I swear, I don’t ever want to be attacked like that again.”

“Everything will be alright, Cassidy, dear,” Sissi smiled.

The door opened, and Dr. Chantal stood in the frame. “Do you have room in the evening for one more set of visitors tonight?”

Jeremie’s eyes widened. “But Patrick’s and Kaitlyn’s parents won’t come until tomorrow afternoon.”

“It’s not their parents, Mr. Belpois,” she smiled.

“Is it one of the teachers?” Odd asked. The presents that they got were great, and they loved them, but a formal visit from one of them sounded good, even for the wildcard.

“No, Mr. Della Robbia.”

“Is it my parents?” Cassidy worried.

“Not them, Miss McGuire,” she answered.

“Then who?” the other nine occupants chorused in surprise, their curiosity piquing. The doctor had knocked down every single one of their suggestions as to who the visitor was going to be. They were beginning to run out of options. It could very well be someone they had never met, whether at the school, or somewhere else, who possibly admired their work from afar, especially after the vortex was unleashed.

Jeremie, however, began to formulate another idea. His mind immediately recalled the factory surveillance camera footage that William had thoughtfully saved to his laptop’s hard drive, which showed Franz Hopper strangely emerging from one of the scanners. With this in mind, his eyes began to light up at the possibility of the mysterious visitor being none other than Aelita’s father, the developer of Lyoko, XANA, and the builder of the supercomputer.

Just as quickly as this thought came on, however, another one pushed it out of the spotlight. How would Franz know his daughter was in the hospital? Could William tell him? Did he somehow find out on his own by browsing the internet, before he was materialized? Or would he somehow just… know?

But he also remembered what Dr. Chantal had mentioned: there was _more than one_ guest. Based on what ideas his brain was hatching at that very moment, if he was certain that Franz was to be one of those guests, the next obvious question was… who was the other one?

While the Einstein of the group was lost in his thoughts, Dr. Chantal turned her head and waved her hand to the mysterious visitors. “Come in, but be very careful, you two. Miss McGuire is still recovering.”

A matched thought echoed through everyone’s minds. _Two… Is it Milly and Tamiya?_

A long shadow slowly slid across the floor, signaling the room’s occupants’ theory was about to be disproved. Instead of two small teenaged girls, an elderly man, whose face was mostly covered by his gray hair, and thick, round glasses, wearing a dark red sweater, pants that were a chestnut shade, and dark brown shoes, slowly walked into the room, causing everyone’s eyes to widen, and jaws to bounce off the floor, once they recognized him.

Aelita gathered her jaw first. “Daddy?”

“Aelita,” Franz Hopper walked over to the pink-haired girl, bending over to hold her.

Sissi slowly grinned, happy to see father and daughter reunited, but for the most part, she stayed quiet.

Cassidy couldn't even begin to describe how awestruck she had become. Here she was in the presence of the legendary computer programmer. Questions threatened to boil over and leave her mouth, but her face refused to obey her brain.

Odd closed his mouth, whispering, “Einstein, I know that things have gone differently since we came here, but it feels like a dream now…”

Jeremie found himself squeaking, dumbfounded, unable to put words together. It was as though Jim had stepped into his room without his knowledge while he was video chatting with his parents.

“Yeah, me, too,” Odd muttered.

Yumi and Ulrich found themselves in similar states of shock. Was this really happening? Did they all fall into a coma, similar to their friend? They couldn't believe it.

Aelita hesitantly wrapped her arms around her father; the last time she had hugged him, she and Cassidy had fallen into a honey trap. It wasn't even her father, but a projection of such that fooled them. Her psychic friend berated herself for almost three days after, before the two finally settled into life with Jeremie's family.

Patrick and Kaitlyn were stunned solid. They had heard stories about their friend's father, but to actually see him was something else altogether. Their minds could only draw blanks at the sight.

“It's been so long, honey.” Aelita's father could barely contain his emotions. “It's great to finally come together and enjoy each other's company.”

A smile sliced across the pink-haired girl’s face, eyes glistening with tears. “Daddy! It's really you!”

“Of course,” he chuckled slightly. “And I didn't come alone.”

“You didn't?” her voice piqued in curiosity. “But who came with you? We went to Lyoko alone, Daddy, and—”

“Sh… It's someone that you and I both ached for a very long time, honey.”

Next came a woman with long, somewhat-disheveled pink hair. She donned a sky-baby blue turtleneck, similar to what Jeremie used to wear, and a worn pair of denim jeans. Light bags hung under her emerald green eyes, but one look at her daughter made them brighten up. “Aelita!”

Her eyes widened like dinner plates. “Mommy?!”

Odd, this time, looked back and forth between the father-daughter duo, and the mother, dumbstruck. He was at a loss for words.

Jeremie, on the other side of the coin, smiled gently at Aelita. She didn't need to worry about it being too late to save her.

However, Cassidy's mind came to a wall and crashed. This was Aelita's mother! And she was alive. Yet, something didn't add up properly. Her eyes flicked between her first roommate, her father, and her mother, trying to fill in the blanks.

Aelita warmly embraced her mother. “I always wanted to see you again…” she sobbed happily.

“Me too, Sweetheart.”

“I missed you two so much…”

“She really did, Mr. and Mrs. Hopper,” Jeremie cut in warmly.

The mother glanced at the father amusedly. “You used my maiden name for your last name?”

“It was in dedication to your memory, my dear,” Franz nodded.

A cherry red flooded her cheeks. “You did that for me?”

“Of course… Plus it was your old surname anyway. It worked for a couple years,” he cocked a grin, but with the beard, it seemed impossible to tell.

“And Aelita underwent the same name change?”

He nodded. “I did what I had to do to keep us both safe.”

“Oh, this is so beautiful…” Sissi whispered, smiling happily.

Franz turned, alerted to her whispering. “And you must be Elisabeth Delmas.”

“You knew Sissi?” Jeremie asked.

“Yes, she was about four years old then. I'm so glad to see she has turned out just fine.”

Sissi blushed hard. She had never personally met this man, Kadic’s former biology, chemistry and physics teacher, and Mrs. Hertz’s predecessor, and yet he knew her, even if it wasn’t for very long. Already she could tell there was something mysteriously amazing about this man.

Cassidy, on the other hand, slowly found herself able to calm down. “H-hi, there, um… Mr. and Mrs. Schaeffer…” she gulped, slightly nervous.

Franz looked up at her. “Ah, yes. Cassidy.”

“I'm so confused right now. Where do I even begin?!”

“If I were you, I'd start off with some deep breaths, Cassidy,” Jeremie advised. “You look as though you will explode before you can even get a fraction of your questions answered.”

Cassidy nodded and took a deep, cleansing breath. “I guess the first question that comes to mind is: How is this possible? Last I remember is that Jeremie didn't have enough time to rematerialize you, and you had to escape into the internet to evade XANA's wrath.”

“That, young lady, is too complicated to explain all in one sitting,” Franz chuckled.

“I guess that's true. And I don't think it's wise to explain it all here…”

“Maybe it’s best if it waits until we’re all out of the hospital, so that way we’re not all bound up over me and my wife’s sudden reappearance?”

She nodded. “Another question that might be similar: Do I have the Keys to Lyoko since the deactivation of that one tower?”

“I don't think I sent you a copy of them when it happened.”

“Hey, speaking of, wasn't there some activated tower that caused all this in the first place?” Sissi asked.

Jeremie's eyes widened. She had a point. “We didn't think about that…”

“What if it's still activated?” Aelita asked. “I should deactivate it.”

“But we’re still patients here at this hospital,” Odd protested. “And Cassidy has only started to learn to walk again.”

Even the brunette herself knew Odd was right, as she gave the wildcard a nod, accompanied by a sheepish grin. Her “fainting spell”, as everyone around her called it, was becoming more and more of a distant memory as the days wore on, but its aftermath still lingered. She still wasn’t completely herself, yet, even if her personality was the first thing to recover. Therefore, how could she possibly fight back against XANA? Sure, Jeremie could try to virtualize her as she was, if he somehow convinced the others it was an incredible idea, but what good would that do? She had no idea what the scanners would do to her, and part of her was afraid to find out; if it was anything like the multitude of times she and Aelita were virtualized while unconscious, she could have absolutely no control over herself, whatsoever. So, waiting out her recovery was probably the best option they all had, regardless of what hers, or anyone else’s, opinion was.

“We can wait for her to get back to normal,” Sissi smiled, walking over and hugging her sister. “Besides, we have plenty of time to bond.”

“I just have one more question, and I hope that this doesn't offend anyone in this room, but um… To try to ask this tactfully… um…”

Franz nodded in understanding. She was worried that this could be a threat or a trap. If the vortex was anything to go on, she wasn't fooled the first time, and (figuratively and literally) fell for it the second time. “I have a simple idea.” He turned to Dr. Chantal. “Could you find a test tube so she can use it?”

She nodded and fled the room.

“Why a test tube?” Ulrich asked curiously.

“I think it's okay to have her rub it on the bottom of our feet,” Franz said. “Plus, it's less harm that way.”

Ulrich nodded.

“I do regret the times I failed your daughter, Mr. Schaeffer,” Cassidy muttered, the previous anxieties kicking her heart.

He looked at her. “Cassidy my dear, don’t ever blame yourself for that. XANA is a very manipulative program. It only has one goal in mind, and it will stop at nothing to achieve that goal. You have done nothing that I would personally hold against you.”

“But she died at his hands because I tried to fight the monsters surrounding us and got separated from her.” She held a hand firmly on her chest. “That ended badly before you came into the scene.”

“XANA had wanted the Keys to Lyoko ever since I virtualized myself and Aelita, ten years before,” Franz continued. “It had already gotten mine, but even if it had gotten Aelita’s as well, I certainly don’t blame you, or anyone else for that. You and your friends tried your best. XANA can sometimes be three steps ahead of any good plan, and you really shouldn’t blame yourself for that, my dear.”

“Ain't that the truth. He ruined a few of my flirtation evasion plans because I was overheard. The only plan that worked merely succeeded because of the fact that I only told two people quietly.”

“And it was a marvelous plan,” Sissi smiled. “You really had him boiling mad.”

Cassidy trembled at the last two words. “Um… please don't use those two words like that again. ‘Boiling mad’ makes me think of a certain slime monster.”

Odd raised an eyebrow, surprise contorting his features. “Huh? Gooey Gus scared you?”

She nodded. “Even as a teenager now, he still scares me.”

“Sorry, Cassidy. I didn't realize that,” the former snob rued.

“Not your fault, Sister.” She cracked a tiny smile. “You couldn't have known.”

Aelita beamed, as the warm embrace her mother was giving her sparked a memory of the time she received a very special gift. “I still remembered where Mister Pück was.”

Franz returned his gaze toward her, a smile gracing his features. “Well done, my angel!”

She laughed happily. These had to be the best two days of her life so far. “I almost thought we would never see each other again.”

“She had a premonition, Mr. Schaeffer,” Cassidy added, in an attempt to help explain why her first roommate thought that way.

A sheepish grin overtook Aelita’s face, as her eyes closed. Although she was closer to laughing at it now, in the months following their rescue of William from XANA’s clutches, the mere thought would have sent tears to her eyes. All she could think about was what it would take to power Jeremie’s XANA Destruction Program, and feared that one person, who was very near and dear to her, would end up making that sacrifice. Even if her vision had ended in the malevolent multi-agent system’s total and complete destruction, the thought of having to live without her father, and being even more clueless about the whereabouts of her mother would have driven her up a wall, and stuck to the ceiling. Therefore, when Cassidy disproved her vision, and unconventionally so, the word “relief” could not begin to describe what she felt in reply.

“It's understandable, Aelita,” Franz affirmed.

“Plus, now, we can say that ‘premonition’ was nothing more than a bad dream,” Odd smiled.

“Good thinking, Odd,” Cassidy found his facial expression contagious.

Aelita grinned in reassurance.

Franz sat in a chair. “I guess all we can do now is wait for your young friend to recover.”

“You're right,” Anthea agreed.

Cassidy nodded. “I still feel unsteady on my feet.”

“It's just a question of time,” Yumi reasoned.

A calm soon filled the room, with the sun slowly setting, outside. Beautiful orange, red and blue hues filled the windows of their hospital room, as Jeremie contemplated all of the questions he wanted to ask Franz, now that he knew the real creator of Lyoko was sitting in front of him, and not some polymorphic specter that XANA had created, as the A.I. had done at least twice in the past. Yet, he knew that most, if not all of them, could wait, as he was liable to exhaust not only the remaining minutes of daylight, but also the remaining time the Schaeffers had to visit them, with most of his questions.

Aelita’s gaze briefly bounced toward the window, before returning to her long, lost father and mother. Her thoughts soon turned to Franz and Anthea’s possible sleeping arrangements for that night.

“Are you going to the Hermitage, Daddy?” she asked.

“It's too cluttered in there, honey,” Franz said.

“We did everything we could to clean it up a bit,” Yumi interjected.

“Still has a long way to go,” Ulrich confessed.

“I also found that someone raided my sock drawer,” Franz chuckled amusedly.

Cassidy squeaked, a rose blush flooding her cheeks. “Um… I just wanted to find what Aelita's date of birth was… ’just ended up finding it there.”

Franz chuckled. “Of course… But the fact of my socks being in disarray… It was amusing…”

The psychic brunette melted in relief on her bed. _If that False Franz Hopper attack was anything to go by, Aelita's right about him being fatherly._

Stopping herself from getting lost in her thoughts, her attention soon returned to the gray-haired man. “Everything doing okay on Lyoko?”

“As far as XANA's concerned, it's been silent.”

“I guess I'm still trying to connect the dots right now.”

“You'll be alright, Sweetheart,” Anthea cooed, giving Cassidy a warm, comforting smile, as Dr. Chantal returned with the test tube. “You just need time to calm down.”

Seeing the doctor’s return, Franz took off his shoe and sock. For being on Lyoko for almost thirteen years, his feet still looked and smelled just as they did the day he was virtualized. It was as though he had a shower, after his materialization.

He raised his bare foot to Cassidy’s level. “Ready to answer your question, Cassidy?”

“Okay,” Cassidy replied as she took the tube in her hand. Gently, she ran it up and down the sole of Franz’s foot. Almost instantly, the former science teacher clenched his toes, chuckles threatening to leave his mouth.

“Who knew that one of the ways to check if someone’s a polymorphic specter was to tickle them, huh?” Odd noted under his breath, to which Jeremie shrugged.

She finished with the father of her friend, before testing Anthea. To her relief, the woman laughed.

“Okay, you two are definitely real,” she commented, relieved, handing the test tube back to Dr. Chantal, who then left to dispose of it.

“No doubt about it,” Ulrich agreed, smiling.

“I still can't believe it in some ways,” she muttered, “but I am glad that you are still alive.”

“Me, too,” Franz and Anthea chorused, replacing their socks and shoes.

“And we can worry about that tower later,” Jeremie replied, suddenly feeling the urge to yawn, before a cursory glance out the now completely darkened window confirmed his suspicions. “These past few days have been like an emotional roller coaster, in terms of craziness.”

Yumi nodded, feeling similar levels of emotional exhaustion from all the excitement.

“Don't worry, young man,” Franz commented understandingly. “We will go for now, and then come back tomorrow afternoon.”

Jeremie suddenly blinked, upon hearing Franz’s reply. _If they weren’t planning on spending the night at the Hermitage,_ he wondered, suspiciously, _where would they go?_

“I thought the Hermitage was too cluttered,” he voiced his concern.

“There is the Academy,” Franz replied with a wink.

Just as suddenly as it came on, the Einstein’s mistrust deflated.

“Um…right.” He scratched the back of his head nervously. “Okay. Good night, you two.”

At this, Franz and Anthea rose to their feet, and approached the door to the hospital room, but not before hugging their daughter.

“Good night, everyone,” the two parents chorused, before opening the door, and exiting through it.

Two pairs of footsteps could be heard pacing in the opposite direction, slowly fading away, until complete silence filled the room, once more.

For the first time in her life, Aelita felt an immense feeling of relief in her psyche. Not only did her bad dream not come to fruition, but she now had a family. No longer would the pink-haired girl have to make up the fact that she was an orphan from Canada, but she still wanted to play up the “Odd is my cousin” part to keep students from wondering if they were still family. Aelita felt as though the gaping hole in her heart had finally been sewn up, after more than a decade of being open; this happiness led to a few tears falling down her face.

“Are you going to be okay, Aelita?” Cassidy and Kaitlyn asked their roommate.

She turned around, raced up to the psychic brunette and wrapped her arms around her. “I’ll be much better, now…”

“I’d say a dinner at a restaurant after we’re discharged is in order,” Sissi smiled, seeing the pink-haired girl hug her sister.

“That sounds so good,” Ulrich commented, before finding he was the next person in the room to yawn.

“And I will not disturb either of you at all,” she found her friend's yawning contagious as Aelita released her friend.

“ _Domo arigatou_ , Sissi,” Yumi smiled, appreciating Sissi’s decision.

“It's my pleasure, Yumi, dear.”

“Good night, everyone,” Odd announced, crawling onto his girlfriend's bed and resting his head on her chest, wrapping his arms around her.

Cassidy smiled tiredly and placed a hand on his back. “Night, Ninja-Cat Boy… It’s great to have you keeping my nightmares away.”

“And it's great to have you back,” Jeremie smiled, crawling into bed, before sending a playful warning look in the direction of his sweetheart. _Don't even think about tickling me, tomorrow morning, to wake me up._

Aelita shrugged and smiled slightly, as she climbed into her own bed. Even though she pretended to question Jeremie’s glance, she knew exactly what it meant. He was wise to her tactic from that morning, and didn’t think too highly of it. She’d probably end up tickling another part of his body, instead.

Kaitlyn and Patrick nodded, soon adjourning to their own respective beds in a similar fashion.

Once she and her boyfriend were in their respective beds, Yumi gently extended her hand outward, mere milliseconds before Ulrich followed suit, and their fingers soon touched, softly. During Cassidy's coma, it slightly helped them to sleep at night, despite the two having nightmares about losing their best friend. It felt instinctual, even after she had awakened from her black hole.

Cassidy smiled softly at their gesture. She might not have known its meaning at that moment, but at the very least, it removed another weight from her heart. _Yumi and Ulrich still novios, check._

She pulled Odd close to her and kissed his lips. “I love you.”

“I love you, too, Cat Girl,” he replied, his heart jolting happily. Her personality might have been fragmented at that moment, but he still thought she was a great kisser, regardless.

Sissi smiled in awe at what she saw, as she curled up in her bed, her heavy eyelids slowly lowering themselves in front of her eyes.

As she passed by the room, Dr. Chantal’s eyes beheld the sleeping friends. Smiling, she stopped, reached inside the room, and gently flicked the lights off. “Good night, everyone,” she whispered.


	5. The Tower

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hunter Moebius and I do not own Code Lyoko or Kaitlyn Belpois.

Three weeks passed by, and Cassidy’s legs continued to get stronger to hold her upright. One night, as they slept, she woke up to go to the bathroom (to have gone through a “fainting spell,” as her friends, and their families by extension, called it, didn’t come without a catheter; she had it out two weeks before) and walked on her own, silently cheering herself on. The bed’s movement woke Odd, but he didn’t wake Aelita or Yumi to support her, scared that the psychic brunette would get startled and fall to her knees. Yet, her successful trip didn’t go unnoticed by the others, as the next evening saw the group having a cake wheeled in from room service.

At first, Cassidy blushed, embarrassed that something so mundane had become a crowning achievement ( _Had Einstein grown bored or what,_ was one thought). Then she enjoyed the cake, a smile blossoming on her face from discovering it was her favorite flavor—white with sugar frosting. It took all her willpower to let the others have their pieces (and a bit of consumption control for Odd) before diving in for seconds. Once the others had taken at least one piece each, Cassidy dove into the cake once more, as if she were in a hurry. This resulted in a tiny bit of frosting landing upon her nose, drawing chuckles from Yumi before Ulrich ended up wiping it off, much to his friend’s mild annoyance.

“Ulrich…” Cassidy fake-whined, “You’re not Jeremie’s mother…”

“I know, but I just want to help,” he replied.

Jeremie chuckled, the genius enjoying their interactions.

“Don’t worry, Cassidy,” he added, “there’s still plenty of frosting for you.”

“You’re just jealous because Princess Aelita didn’t wipe your face yet,” Odd chuckled before turning his attention to his novia. “It’s okay to admit it, Cat Girl. Besides, we all know how much you love the frosting.”

The psychic brunette and the blond genius felt their cheeks heat up. “Hey!”

Sissi giggled behind her right hand.

Since Cassidy had awakened several weeks before, the thought that she might only have a limited time left to live, especially when the hospital staff randomly decided to discontinue her life support, due to their assumption that she was no longer making steady progress toward recovering, seemed to have less and less of an effect on the psyches of those who still bore the memory. While they had successfully prevented that from happening, saved only by the brunette’s eyes finally opening, the eight still refused to forgive Dr. Chantal for their rash decision on her behalf, even though she had apologized. It had been a private encounter when the young programmer had gone on a hot chocolate run for everyone.

The genius of the group made it clear that she crossed the line, and that she had to earn back their trust with time. She nodded slowly and let him complete his task.

“Now that she can walk around again, what do you all say about getting back to school?” Jeremie asked, setting his paper plate in a trash bin.

“I hope Rosa hasn't forgotten about me,” Odd whined melodramatically.

Ulrich folded his arms over his chest, a wide grin plastered on his face. “How could she forget someone who eats as much as you do and still not be 50% cafeteria food by body weight? She’d probably ask the hospital to keep you here for a few years.”

“Hey, with my amazing body, she better not forget about me,” his dorm roommate grinned.

“Odd…” Aelita giggled.

“Don't you see, Aelita? He’s the narrator, and this is just the prologue for him,” Cassidy sang slightly.

Kaitlyn cackled. “You can sing that punk rock song again!”

Patrick nodded, pulling the fork away from his mouth, chewing and swallowing his bite. “But when it comes to eating, Odd wins hands down.”

Jeremie smiled. “So it's settled, then. Let's go back to Kadic!”

Cassidy nodded. “I do miss the teachers. I'm sure that they miss us. And I would love to thank Mrs. Hertz and Mrs. Mayer for their gifts.”

Ulrich nodded and helped the psychic brunette to her feet. “Let's go.”

The nine Lyoko Warriors walked over to the reception area. Yumi noticed that instead of the one that rudely dismissed her and Aelita when they wanted to see Odd, Ulrich, and Cassidy, there was a familiar face.

“Jim?!” Jeremie asked, his voice almost cracking.

“Sh… Not so loud, Belpois,” he whispered softly. “And if you're looking to get out of the hospital to go to school, you're out of luck! Mr. Delmas has ordered that you all have to stay here until after he has made the final decisions around the Academy.”

“Even me, Jim?” Sissi asked.

“Yes, even you, Sissi,” Jim said. “Unless any of you want to be saddled with four hours of detention when he finally discharges you, I suggest you hoof it back to your room, on the double.”

Without needing a second warning, the others immediately turned around and walked back into their hospital room, some feeling slightly disappointed.

“Okay, so now it's _us_ in the _Catching Fire_ version of District 12, right, Cassidy?” Jeremie looked at her.

“I have no idea. This whole thing’s got me twisted tighter than the time Odd had us play Twister.” Cassidy blushed.

“I said that I was sorry,” Ulrich defended.

“Actually, it was my fault. If I didn't put my left hand on green, making the board slip out from under us, then you wouldn't have fallen onto my chest,” Cassidy admitted.

“I never saw Yumi so mad,” Jeremie admitted.

Yumi threw her hands into the air. “I didn't even know that you were playing that game.”

“It's okay,” Aelita smiled.

Sissi blinked, slight confusion taking hold. “When was this, huh?”

“Oh, it happened after you left for that appointment,” Cassidy smiled. “Remember the reason why you didn't show up in school for a week?”

“Well, my cousin and I were a perfect match after all. It wasn't easy,” she admitted.

“What did you donate that helped her?” Jeremie asked curiously.

“My _male_ cousin needed some marrow. It was painful to do, but it was the right thing at the time.” She smiled. “My father approved of the procedure.”

“Your cousin had leukemia?!” Yumi almost yelped.

“Yes, Yumi, sweetheart,” Sissi nodded. “But it’s no big deal; he found the strength to fight it off, after all. Right now he’s in remission, and we all hope it doesn’t come back.”

Cassidy smiled. For all intents and purposes, the principal's daughter had a heart of gold. “That was great that you helped your family.”

“I am glad that we saw Jim, though,” the blond genius smiled gratefully.

The psychic brunette looked at him with wide eyes. Did he say that? “Who are you, and what did you do with Jeremie Albert Belpois?”

“I’m still me, Cassidy,” he chuckled. “We just haven’t seen Jim in a while since we came here.”

“Oh…” she realized. “That makes better sense. I thought you missed being in Phys. Ed, Jeremie.”

Ulrich chuckled. “Einstein missing the one class he hates?! That’ll be the day!”

Aelita joined in laughter. “You’re right.”

Jeremie rolled his eyes, a small grin overtaking his face. “Why would I ever miss taking that class?”

A smile grew on the psychic brunette's face, a laugh threatening to escape her mouth. “Okay, you are definitely you.”

As Cassidy finished her sentence, a thought suddenly hit the former foil to the Lyoko Warriors. “How are we going to get to the factory if we aren't even allowed to get discharged on our own?”

Odd’s eyes widened as he realized something. “Wait! Uh… Jim said that he doesn't want us discharged because Mr. Delmas is still doing something, right?”

“What do you mean, now, Odd?” Yumi asked.

“He said that they aren't ready for us _at school_ , yet, but he didn’t say we couldn’t go anywhere else,” he continued.

Aelita's mouth dropped open. “Odd, you're right.”

“I never thought I'd say this again, but, Odd, you're a genius. Do you know that?” Jeremie kissed the top of his head.

Odd blushed. “I was just suggesting… No need to get all overly-excited.”

His modesty fell on deaf ears, as Jeremie was too preoccupied with what he perceived as Odd’s incredible idea.

“Maybe we can't be released from the hospital just yet, but we sure can see if we can deactivate that tower,” Jeremie proclaimed.

Cassidy nodded. “Like Ulrich said that one time, I wouldn't wait for XANA to give us an invitation.”

Ulrich smiled. “I couldn't have said it better, Cassidy.”

She led the way to the doorframe. “Come on, you guys! Let's defeat XANA once again!”

“I can't wait any longer,” Aelita smiled.

Jeremie lifted a finger. “And don't forget, we also have Cassidy's scar to examine with the scanner.”

“We can get that out of the way first,” Yumi smiled. “That way, we don't have to worry about any of us getting any wild theories about it.”

“I still say that XANA’s put something on her.” The wildcard pointed a finger in the air. “Like a barcode, or a serial number.”

Ulrich rolled his eyes. “Odd… it’s not like she got abducted by aliens.”

“You read one of her concept stories, didn’t you?” His jaw dropped open, aghast at what he said.

The samurai scoffed. “It didn’t happen. Besides, they’re only stories.”

“Ulrich’s right,” Cassidy nodded. “My alien stories are fake. Nothing more than that.”

Her pink-haired dorm roommate rolled her eyes, giggling. “At least you don’t have to worry about singing Metallica while surfing on an alien’s body!”

“Plus, Planet _Benadryl_? I swear there’s gotta be a better name for a planet than that.” She put a hand to her forehead. “I’ve got to be the weirdest writer out there!”

“You’re not. With a little more practice, you’re bound to get better,” Jeremie encouraged.

“Plus, you’re just trying out the genres,” Yumi said. “You’ll find your strokes, you’ll see.”

“True, I might find my niche, but let’s focus on getting to the factory,” Cassidy grinned.

Ulrich slipped his mobile out of his pocket. “I’m going to call William. He might want to join us in deactivating the tower.”

“I hope you mean that you…” she shuddered.

Odd patted his girlfriend on the back. “Oh, relax, Cat Girl. Franz is still at the school, remember? There won’t be any…”

“Odd!” Aelita cried softly, gently walking to the door. “She’s been through enough.”

Yumi followed her. “Come on, Odd. Let’s get to the factory. With a little luck, we will get back here in time for a celebratory dinner.”

“Maybe we can invite my father to the deactivation,” the elven warrior smiled.

Jeremie nodded. “It wouldn’t be a proper one without him. Maybe you can show him how you’ve used your power.”

“With what we did, he probably already saw it,” Cassidy smiled, following Yumi. “I may not have been able to read his mind yet, but I think he’s proud of his angel.”

Odd followed his friends through the doorframe. “Jim can’t possibly punish us for wanting to go to the factory, right?”

“With Jim, you can’t be too sure,” the genius of the group shrugged.

Leaving their hospital room, they walked into the reception area, before Jeremie approached the desk. However, they didn’t notice Jim was still standing nearby until the burly gym teacher’s eyes fixated upon the nine.

“Hey, what did I tell you about waiting until Mr. Delmas finishes his plans?” he asked in a low, warning tone.

“We’re not thinking about going to Kadic, this time, Jim,” Odd smiled charismatically.

“Do you think I was born in a belfry?” He lowered his gaze on the wildcard.

 _It’s “born in a barn” and “bats in the belfry,” Jim_ , Cassidy tried to fight her giggles. _I think you’ve lost whatever’s left of your marbles._

“No, Jim. Besides, we have one more tower to deactivate,” Aelita answered confidently.

Cassidy’s jaw dropped to the floor, the brunette quickly becoming flabbergasted. Why did her first roommate just come out and tell Jim their Lyoko battle plans? _Wait a minute… How does Jim know about Lyoko?!_ _Should we trust Jim with this?!_ How long was I out for?!

“Uh, I wouldn’t do that if I were you, Miss Stones,” the burly gym teacher interjected. “The eight of you might be in fighting shape, but McGuire here might still need a bit of retraining.”

“She learns fast,” Yumi smiled. “She’s taken out 87 Megatanks, so far.”

“That was impressive,” Jim chuckled. “But with that being said, I bet that she’d rather not talk about it.”

Cassidy pursed her lips, gritting her teeth inside her mouth, a blush flooding her cheeks. Instead of saying anything, she simply nodded, her bottom eyelid twitching. _Jeremie, I think we all have some explaining to do._

“So, if you just go down to the factory, do what you need to do, and come back here, you won't get in any trouble,” Jim winked at them. “I will let the hospital staff know where you're going.”

“Thanks, Jim!” Jeremie smiled and raced out of the building as though his pants were on fire, the others hot on his heels, saying similar gratitudes.

A few moments later, after the nine sprinted through the hospital’s automatic doors, Kaitlyn suddenly dug her heels into the pavement. “Wait a second! Do we even know the way from the hospital to the factory?”

“We do!” Jeremie shouted over his shoulder. “Follow us!”

“We've broken out of the hospital a couple times to know the way,” Yumi panted.

Kaitlyn sighed. Her cousin and her friend both had points. Increasing her stride, she jogged up to Ulrich's speed.

“I just hope the Men in Black aren't there waiting for us. They would kill us,” Cassidy whimpered.

“We have bigger things to deal with first,” Jeremie reassured.

A few minutes later, the nine reached the factory, only to find three other familiar faces waiting outside.

“Do you mind telling me where's the fire?” William's voice entered Jeremie's ears.

“We’re going to deactivate that darn tower,” Odd proclaimed, “and you're invited!”

“Alright! Cool,” William smiled. “Let's do this!”

Cassidy smiled, keeping an inch ahead of Aelita. “Great to have you on the team, Ex-y.”

Franz let the others jump on the ropes. Cassidy veered left to the ramp, racing down to the lower level, where she rejoined her friends at the freight elevator.

With the twelve inside the freight car, Jeremie pressed the down button on the elevator’s control panel, causing the metal to lower down around them.

As the elevator began to descend, destined for the laboratory, an overwhelming feeling of excitement filled Sissi. This was something she had wanted to be a part of for a long time. Sure, she had almost been a Lyoko Warrior in the beginning and had seen the factory a few times, but each of these was erased by a Return to the Past. Now, with the vortex having opened the book that was the history of the war against XANA wide, and the others actually considering her a friend, she was certain that a time rewind wouldn’t ruin her fun, this time around.

Where the former snob could barely contain her excitement, Cassidy, on the other hand, felt as though another couple of weights tied themselves to her heart. _What if something goes wrong? What if something happens to me when it does get deactivated? Will I disappear? Is there a chance I’ll disappear from their lives? I have a family! I can’t do that!_

Cassidy wouldn’t be alone with her thoughts for long, as Sissi soon managed to pull herself from her excitement-, wonder- and awe-filled thoughts, just as she noticed a look of fear gracing the psychic brunette’s features. Seeing this, the principal’s daughter looked at her with wide eyes of concern. “Cassidy? Is something wrong?”

“I’m nervous, I guess,” Cassidy whispered. “I don’t know what deactivating the tower will do to me.”

Yumi cocked a brow. “We never thought about that.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t get too worked up about it,” Odd smiled, stuffing his hands in his hoodie pocket. “Maybe it could stop her powers having earthquakes every time she has a vision.”

“That would be a good thing, considering that I still have the title of ‘dangerous psychic,’” Cassidy blinked. “And that nickname I have learned to embrace.”

“We said we were sorry,” Ulrich muttered.

“Hey, I have learned to like it, no matter what, considering the fear I put you through, I forced your hands and made you do…” Cassidy lowered her head, looking up at them sheepishly.

Anthea squeezed through the crowd and gently brought the self-berating brunette into her arms. “It’ll all be okay, Cassidy. You’ll see, Darling.”

She took a deep breath and nodded. “Thanks, Mrs. Schaeffer.”

The door opened at the lab, and the twelve soon filed out of the freight car. Leading the group, Jeremie and Franz soon approached the Supercomputer, just as the former had done countless times before. As they neared the chair, a thought entered Jeremie’s mind.

 _Normally I’m the one who sits down at the Supercomputer,_ he thought. _Now that Franz Hopper is back, will he take over that role?_

The two stopped before the chair, Jeremie glancing up at the gray-haired man, his features silently divulging his curiosity. To his surprise, Franz returned his gaze, almost as if he were to say, _do you want to?_

However, before either of the two could sit down in the chair, both programmers’ eyes beheld a strange window upon the center monitor.

“There is one more Replika that might be of interest to you,” Jeremie read aloud, his and Franz’s eyes scanning the window’s contents, “but you must only send one member of your team to deactivate it. I will not send any resistance to you if these conditions are met. The coordinates can be found on the back of one of your friends. It’s signed…”

His eyes widened as the last part became clear. “...XANA!”

“But how are we going to get to the Replika without the Skidbladnir?” Aelita asked.

“Last I checked, our virtual submarine is toast,” Cassidy added. “XANA sent his Kolossus at it.”

Franz smiled behind his beard. “I worked on the program that would bring back the Skidbladnir, adding more power to the shields. It’s still the same vehicle nonetheless.”

“Great,” the elven warrior grinned.

“But what was that last part? ‘On the back of one of your friends…?’ That sounds like XANA did something to us in our sleep at one point.” Sissi glared at the note, the thoughts of ‘how’ and ‘why’ angering her.

“Maybe XANA watched a horror film,” Odd jested.

Cassidy gritted her teeth as though Kiwi peed in her bed for the first time ever. “Uh… I wouldn’t put it past him to do so… He might get other ideas to get rid of us…”

“That would be serious,” Yumi agreed.

“But first things first, let’s check Cassidy’s scar,” Jeremie declared, forgetting the previous conversation he had had with himself, and sliding into the chair.

The psychic brunette nodded, taking in a deep breath. “Let’s do it.” She walked to the hatch and climbed down the ladder. Gently, Cassidy stepped into the first open scanner, before turning herself around to face the opening.

 _“Ready, Cassidy?”_ Jeremie called over the intercom.

“As I’ll ever be.”

_“Here we go.”_

The doors shut around her, encasing her within the cabin. She closed her eyes, heart racing as she tried to contain her claustrophobia. “Ready, Einstein.”

In the lab, Jeremie typed on the keyboard. “Launching program!” He pressed the enter key.

A window popped up on the screen, containing a miniature version of Cassidy’s purple cat outfit, displayed as a hollow 3D model. As Jeremie continued to type, the model slowly filled to the top with green, before solidifying. Once the model turned to a solid, green color, a red, pulsating circle quickly appeared over the model’s abdomen. More keystrokes summoned another window, displaying a picture of Cassidy’s back, zoomed in to show the scar.

“Now let’s have a closer look at it.” The blond genius held his breath.

Gradually, Jeremie zoomed in on the mark, until it became a series of grooves. As he continued to type, the image of the grooves slowly magnified, until the lines that made up each one became distinct. The Einstein of the group continued to zoom until he could see a strange sequence of numbers hidden within them. Ulrich attempted to stifle a sense of surprise within himself, as he recalled a statement the wildcard had made, moments before.

“Odd, what films have you been watching?” Ulrich asked, reaching into his pocket to fish out another 20 Euro bill.

Yumi chuckled. “At this rate, he’s going to be rich.”

Ignoring the exchange, Jeremie pressed the enter key. “Data recovery. We’re set to begin the analysis.”

Franz watched, a smile of amazement still plastered on his face. This fourteen-year-old boy could do things even he had dreamed of doing with Lyoko, had his requests to live in peace been honored. Adding vehicles and weapons, and even implementing wings onto his daughter’s Lyoko outfit to ensure a quick getaway from XANA’s monsters was one thing he never thought of. Redoing, as the younger genius in front of him called it, “Sector 5”, to get rid of an annoying obstacle in their path, the Core Zone “Key”, was an interesting change to the area that he hadn’t initially considered, even though he could understand his motives, especially with the extra room they implemented.

Consulting the microphone at his mouth, the Einstein of the group announced, “It’s okay, Cassidy. You can come back to the lab, now.”

A few minutes later, Cassidy stood beside Sissi. “What did you find?”

“Odd being correct again,” Ulrich deadpanned.

Cassidy's eyes widened. “You can't be serious. Really?”

Jeremie simply nodded. “And they aren't a serial number. I placed the numbers into the Replika Locator, and found a dormant one.”

“Do you think he created the Replika to activate a tower, but due to the attack at hand, he forgot he had one to play with at the time?” Aelita asked, being careful with her words.

“It could be,” Jeremie lowered his tone into a growl.

“So, let's not waste any time,” Odd smiled. “Let's get rid of it!”

“Wait!” Cassidy shouted. “What if he's laying bait, and if we send only one, we end up falling into a trap?” Her insides rattled, threatening to melt, at the mere thought. XANA would never be this forward. The last time he tried to make a deal with her and her friends, things didn’t go very well. She and her friends might have worked with XANA in the past, but given the sheer number of times he wreaked havoc on any of them, she knew they’d have to be out of their minds to blindly take XANA at his word. “I would hate to be responsible for the death of one of our friends.”

Yumi walked over to her and rubbed her shoulder. “I think you’re worrying too much, Cassidy. You’ll see. Things will be better in no time.”

“I really don't know, Yumi. I have the feeling something bad will happen,” she muttered. For her friend’s sake, she took a deep, relaxing breath and faked a smile.

“If he says to only send one, Aelita's the obvious choice,” Sissi interjected.

“And what, let her go to who-knows-where and back to find the Schyphozoa waiting for her with open tentacles?” Cassidy worried.

“Cassidy,” Aelita soothed. “He hasn't set that one loose on us in a while.”

“True,” she blushed.

“Plus I'm the only one with the Keys to Lyoko, so Sissi’s right. I'll have to go solo.”

“But he could be leading us into a trap,” Jeremie added, skepticism contorting his features. “Cassidy’s right; it’s too risky.”

“But what if we're being paranoid?” Ulrich cut in. “After all, we’ve had our imagination rule our minds every once in a while.”

“Most times, I was vision sharing, and I still don't know what caused that.” Cassidy pointed a finger in the air.

“Well, why don’t we take a vote,” Jeremie suggested.

“The last time we did that, you told me I wasn't going to be a member of our group,” William glowered at him. He then shifted his glare to Yumi.

The geisha raised her hands defensively. “That was before things got way too complicated.”

“Plus, this time, it's majority rules,” Jeremie smiled reassuringly. “Who's for sending Aelita to the Replika alone?”

“For,” Yumi raised her right hand.

“Against,” Cassidy raised her left.

“For,” William smiled, his right hand in the air.

“For.” Odd grinned uneasily but fought to make it look like a confident one.

Aelita took a deep breath and raised her right hand. “For.”

“Against.” Anthea couldn't let her daughter go it alone.

“For,” Franz said.

His wife shot him a startled glance. “But, Franz—”

“She's had plenty of experience with Lyoko, and she has grown up a little. She can handle things on her own.”

She whimpered slightly, but nodded, before a slight growl escaped her throat. “If she doesn't make it out—”

“She will, dearest,” Franz soothed. “Don’t worry about a thing.”

“Sorry, guys, I'm against.” Ulrich raised his left hand. “She shouldn't go it alone.”

“I'm for,” Kaitlyn smiled. “She is a strong girl.”

“I'm sorry, Kaitlyn, but I'm against,” Patrick frowned. “Ulrich is right! We cannot let her fly solo.”

Aelita glared at the Einstein's male cousin.

“I'm all for it,” Sissi proclaimed.

“What do you think, Jeremie?” William asked.

Jeremie sighed deeply. “I don't like this, and I hope we don't come to regret this, but, I'm for it. No matter what I would say, I think I would be outvoted if I said against.” He typed on the keyboard once more. “Aelita, head for the scanner room.”

Cassidy felt her insides rattling some more. “ _B-buena suerte,_ Aelita.”

“Thanks,” she smiled at her, before giving her mother a hug, and heading to the hatch.

“Good luck, my angel!” Franz smiled as his daughter disappeared from his sight.

“I do hope that things turn out okay,” Cassidy muttered as she lowered herself to the floor, propping her back against a wall.

Sissi smiled softly, sitting beside her. “It’ll soon be over, Cassidy, sweetheart.”

“Thanks, Sissi, dear,” the psychic brunette replied, trying to hide her slight surprise. It had taken Cassidy a week to warm up to the former snob’s kindness, but she still felt caught off-guard from time to time. This wasn’t the Sissi she originally knew; the Sissi she once knew would never have said anything like that to her, at least not without a snide remark inserted for good measure. The only time the old Sissi ever reached this level of kindness was when crazy things began to happen. And since those moments inevitably led to a Return to the Past, that side of her was always a temporary sight that never lasted past that day. But now it was as if her old, snobbish ways had completely dissolved, and the reason behind it was a total mystery to her. It was as if a switch had been flipped in her mind, at some point during the black hole that bridged the gap between the day she lost her voice, and the moment she woke up in the hospital, surrounded by her loving, caring friends. And even if she had had a chance to acclimate herself to this new Sissi, she still found herself mentally gasping in disbelief. It wasn’t to say that she didn’t like this personality change; she was happy that she wasn’t trying to play tricks on her, insult her, or any number of other things the old Sissi would’ve done, but when she had come to expect the former could happen at any moment, the lack of such things still got to her.

The principal's daughter smiled gratefully, a tiny giggle escaping her throat. “Just you wait.”

Jeremie typed. “Ready, Aelita?”

 _“Ready, Jeremie.”_ _Proxy-pie._

For the first time since her last visit to the factory, the psychic brunette smiled in reassurance. Maybe she was overanalyzing and overthinking everything that was happening in front of her again.

“Here we go,” Jeremie began, unleashing his fingers upon the keyboard. “Transfer, Aelita. Scanner, Aelita.”

Aelita watched the scanner doors close around her, just as they had for Cassidy moments before, before closing her eyes, as the wind turbines kicked up beneath her. The scanner began to read her biometric data, from her feet to her head, as the turbines blew her hair, and dress, upward.

Once the model of Aelita’s Lyoko outfit on Jeremie’s screen filled itself to the top, the blond genius entered the coordinates for Sector 5’s Arena.

“Virtualization!” he called out, as he pressed the Enter key.

It was at this moment that Aelita could feel the wind turbines picking up speed, and see the light behind her eyelids get brighter, minutes before she felt herself get whisked away to Lyoko.

She appeared in the Arena, hovering in midair, first as a wireframe, which slowly emerged, bit by bit, from her head to her feet, before slowly being covered by her Lyoko outfit in the same manner. Soon after, she felt the feeling return to her body, and dropped to a three-point landing, upon the spinning floor.

“It's okay, Jeremie, I made it to Sector Five,” she announced.

 _“That's great, Aelita,”_ both Jeremie and Franz chorused.

In her virtual heart, an appreciative flame ignited. She wasn't just being guided by her knight in glasses, but by him _and_ her father. A smile blossomed on her face as a laugh escaped her lips. How she got this lucky, she would never know.

 _“You know where the floor is,”_ Jeremie said confidently.

“Roger,” Aelita nodded, taking the top eyelash route to the Skid Garage elevator.

In the lab, Cassidy clenched her hands on her knees. _I don't know, but I think I might be right._

Sensing her distress, Sissi gently took her hand and brought out her manicure set her father sent her a week prior. “Do you mind if I do your nails, Cassidy? It may relax you.”

Jolting from her thoughts, Cassidy looked at her friend. “Huh? Oh, sure. Sorry about that. I guess I zoned out again.” She tittered nervously. “Go ahead.”

“Great. And don't worry. I have all your favorite colors, so I can make your nails shine,” the principal's daughter smiled.

 _You're doing a great job, Sissi! Just keep it up,_ Yumi thought to herself as she surveyed the former snob, a grin gracing her features.

“Your elevator should come to you in just a few seconds,” Jeremie reassured, watching the action on his screen.

“At least it's not like the transit system,” Cassidy smiled. “The last time I trusted it, I was stuck at a restaurant for almost an hour before I could get picked up.”

“They gave you a courtesy ride, right?” Odd asked her.

“Yes, thank goodness I reminded the dispatch.”

In Sector Five, the elevator shaft swooped down in front of the pink-haired warrior. She walked onto the platform, and it soon took her upward, into the Skid Garage.

When it stopped at the top, she raced toward her teleport spot.

 _“Energize!”_ Franz announced.

A bright column of light flashed, sending Aelita into the cockpit. She grinned and grasped the thrusters. “It's great to be back in the Skidbladnir again.”

 _“I wish we could say the same, Princess,”_ Odd remarked.

She typed on the white keys. “Opening interface.” Three blue interface screens popped up in front of her. “Everything looks great, Daddy.”

_“I can't take all the credit. It was thanks to your boyfriend's notes that helped me recreate the Skidbladnir completely.”_

“He isn't the wind beneath my wings for nothing, Daddy.”

She swore that she heard Jeremie squeak into the microphone, and giggled softly. “Standing by, Jeremie and Daddy.”

_“Releasing the supports.”_

Pressing a few keys on the keyboard, the five mechanisms tethering the Skid to the hangar slowly retracted toward the walls, the lights upon them turning off in the process.

“I always dedicated my liftoffs to you, Daddy,” Aelita smiled, pressing the red button to her left and grasping the thruster.

Outside, the four arms slowly raised upward, as the engines’ fuselage slid into position, blasting a white beam of light downward, which propelled the Skid upward. The virtual submarine shot through the North Pole, before circling the Celestial Dome.

_“Tunnel should be open in two seconds.”_

“Okay, Jeremie.”

In nearly the time span Jeremie predicted, one of the data beams that connected the Celestial Dome to the outer walls slowly began to dissipate. Once it had completely disappeared, a flash of white light exploded from the hole, before fading away, replaced by an empty, black abyss.

Shifting the left thruster, Aelita guided the Skidbladnir through it, reaching the area outside Sector Five. “I'm about to dive in, Jeremie and Daddy.”

_“That's great, Aelita.”_

The vehicle dropped down, coming to a quick stop to hover over the sea for a moment, before plunging into its depths.

Once inside the Digital Sea, the fuselage stopped firing, as Aelita expertly navigated the Skid toward the tunnel that led out into the Network. The circular gate conveniently opened for her as the craft closed in, allowing the Skid to exit Lyoko completely.

“Rotation.” She pulled the lever, and instantly, the vehicle moved from vertical to horizontal. “Breaking free from Lyoko's gravity in three seconds.”

The propeller spun, picking up more speed than it did before. “Wow, Daddy, it’s faster than the last one.”

_“I patched up an area that would make it lag at certain intervals, honey.”_

_“Now why didn’t I think about that?”_ Cassidy protested. _“I thought there was a slight variation at times.”_

 _“Cassidy, hold still!”_ Sissi demanded softly.

“It’s alright, Cassidy,” Aelita reassured her. “Our adventures on the network, and against XANA, kept you busy, too.”

 _“Holoweb system, online. Aelita, I’m giving you the coordinates to the Replika,”_ Jeremie announced.

“Roger, Jeremie.” She smiled. “This is so exciting. I can’t believe it.”

 _“Well, it should be, Aelita. You have not just_ us _watching, you have your mom and dad watching, too,”_ Yumi’s voice rang into the cockpit.

“That’s what makes it all the more exciting.”

She maneuvered the vehicle to the sphere. “I’ve got a visual on the Replika.”

 _“No monsters in sight. XANA seems to have honored its word, so far,”_ Franz announced.

 _“Don’t you think that’s weird, Mr. Schaeffer?”_ Jeremie and Yumi chorused.

_“Of course, but it’s also a relief.”_

Aelita pulled on the lever and rotated the Skid from horizontal to vertical, before pressing a hand on the scanner. “Digital key, engaged.”

A small cannon underneath the cockpit’s windshield slowly began to charge up energy, before firing a long, white beam of light at the center of the XANA symbol in front of the Replika’s entry gate.

“I’m sending you the signal, Jeremie and Daddy.” _That sounds so much fun to say._

 _“That’s great, my angel,”_ Franz replied, a slight tinge of excitement in his voice. _“Jeremie will crack the code to let you in.”_

In the lab, Cassidy felt a shaky sensation within herself. It was as though her insides were becoming gelatin again. To steady herself, she lent her focus on Sissi giving her nails attention. “Wow, I guess working on yourself does a load of practice. Any time I tried to do my own fingers, the left would look fine, but the right would seem like the victim of a tragic farming accident.”

“It has something to do with the dominant hand. Since you’re right-handed, your left will always look perfect,” Sissi smiled.

“Ah. Maybe I should let you do my nails from now on,” she grinned, trying to sound convincing.

“Is something wrong, Cassidy?” Yumi asked, noting the exaggeration in words.

“I just kinda feel so weird inside. It’s just… I don’t know.”

Hearing this, Odd squeezed through the crowd and made it to his novia, before taking her free hand and placing his middle and ring fingers against her wrist. “I hope it’s not anything serious.”

“I hope not either, Odd, honey, but could you give me that hand when you’re done with it, please?” the principal’s daughter asked.

He nodded, trying with varying levels of success to hide his worry. “Your pulse seems normal. How are you feeling?”

“Light in my chest for some reason. I just don’t know what’s going on with me.” Her body lightly trembled.

William sat down beside his ex. “Just keep yourself distracted. Maybe you’re having some anxiety.”

“Over a tower deactivation? The only time I was anxious over one was when Aelita had to choose between two of them because even my powers were like Jeremie’s computer—only seeing one,” she gulped. “Not any tower after.”

“Do you think that deactivating the tower would make your powers disappear?” Yumi asked, as Odd gently placed a hand on Cassidy’s chest, being careful with his fingers. “What would give you that idea?”

“Maybe I got my powers from there. Do you think those two painful moments after the vine attack just came out of nowhere? The tower might have pulsated or something, trying to show me where it was, but instead, all I got was some pain.”

“Okay, Aelita, I found the code,” Jeremie smiled. “I’m cracking open the lock.”

_“Thanks, Jeremie.”_

In the vast Network, the white beam of energy suddenly dissipated, having accomplished its task. The gate it was attached to slowly began to open, allowing the Lyoko Warriors’ submarine to enter its unknown depths. A combination of worry and excitement began to take hold of Aelita, as she navigated the craft through the tunnel, into the Replika.

The Skidbladnir emerged from a peachy-orange Digital Sea. “That’s weird. I never emerged from that color of digital sea before.”

 _“What does it look like, Aelita?”_ Jeremie asked.

“It’s an orangish color, but very light.”

The Skid continued to ascend, before reaching the same level as the platforms. Yet, as she gazed out upon them from the cockpit, something seemed eerily familiar to her. Her fingers immediately reached for another set of keys upon the Skid’s dashboard; Jeremie had to see this.

In the lab, a window popped up, showing the land formations. Jeremie’s eyes studied the visual Aelita gave him. “It looks like the Desert Sector, but how? We got rid of the New Mexican supercomputer.”

“I’m just happy to have been in the United States for just a little bit,” Cassidy said, trying to keep herself from shaking badly.

“I’m almost done with your fingers, Cassidy, darling,” Sissi proclaimed. “Just stay still for a few seconds longer.”

“I don’t think that’ll be a problem,” she tittered nervously.

 _“I don’t see any other towers to moor the Skid.”_ Aelita’s voice erupted from Jeremie’s screen, promptly changing the subject.

“It’s okay, Aelita. We’re not doing a teleportation, after all,” Jeremie reassured.

_“So far, I don’t see any monsters. I’m going to disembark.”_

“Be careful, Aelita,” the genius, Franz, and Anthea chorused together.

On the new Replika, the pink-haired elven warrior pressed a few keys on the Skid’s dashboard, causing herself to pulsate, before disappearing. A few seconds later, she rematerialized outside of the Skid’s cockpit, on a platform in front of the craft.

“I’m ready, Jeremie.”

_“That’s great, the tower is south, southeast of your position. I don’t see any monsters so far. This is strange. It’s as if XANA is really honoring his word.”_

“Okay.” She turned in the direction Jeremie indicated.

In the lab, Odd’s eyebrows rose high, as he felt rapid thumping under his hand. “Cassidy?”

The psychic brunette tried to draw in her breath. “I’m trying to keep calm.”

“Your heart rate’s going kinda fast there. Are you sure it’s not anxiety?”

Cassidy turned her gaze toward her novio. “I think it’s safe to say that, right now, I have no idea _what_ it is!”

Sissi looked at her sister, concern filling her face and tone. “Your hands are turning pale, too. Do you need one of us to get you a bottle of water from the cooler?”

“Maybe I can do it,” William volunteered. “After all, I have to redeem myself.”

“Go ahead, William,” Yumi smiled gratefully.

The psychic brunette nodded. “Maybe I’m a bit dehydrated from the jog from the hospital to the factory. It was a long way. I’m probably going to feel that in my muscles in the morning.”

William walked around the computer Jeremie and Franz supervised and looked into the cooler that Anthea had bought a short time earlier. He fished out a bottle of water from the ice and raced back to Cassidy. “Here you go, Cass.”

She gently took it in her hand. “Thanks.” She twisted the cap and broke the seal, before bringing it up to her mouth and draining half of it.

“Wow, that must’ve been one big thirst,” Odd exclaimed, still holding a hand to his girlfriend’s chest. “Hm… it doesn’t seem to have calmed your heart any yet.”

“Patience, Odd,” Jeremie smirked.

On the Replika, Aelita raced among the wires leading to the activated tower, going down a narrowing path. Before long, she came to a stop, as her eyes beheld its red halo, a short distance away.

“There it is,” she panted breathlessly. “Jeremie, Daddy, Mommy, I found it!”

 _“Well done, Aelita!”_ an excited ballad of voices befell her elven ears.

In the Lab, Cassidy began to find it harder to breathe. Odd’s eyes widened, the wildcard finding it harder and harder to hide the look of fear and concern that threatened to completely overtake his features. Sissi, too, seemed quite worried as well. Their fearful expressions soon attracted the others, save Jeremie, who quickly raced to the psychic brunette’s aid.

“Jeremie, Cassidy’s not well!” Yumi shouted.

“Aelita’s at the tower,” Jeremie replied, turning his own worried gaze toward the group. “I’ll hurry her up. Maybe deactivating the tower will save Cassidy!” His gaze then returned to the screen in front of him. “Aelita! Hurry up! There’s something wrong with Cassidy!”

On the Replika, the elven warrior’s eyes widened, as Jeremie’s worried cries reached her. “Oh, no! Okay, Jeremie. I’ll deactivate it ASAP.”

Her virtual feet now fueled by her boyfriend’s urgent cries, she sprinted into the tower, and across the first platform, the individual circles in the XANA symbol beneath her feet lighting up white in sequence before she stopped in the center circle.

In the lab, the psychic brunette’s eyes widened before she pitched forward, eyes closing, a moan leaving her mouth.

“CASSIDY!” Everyone cried out in total shock.

Yumi’s eyes turned to the genius. “Get Aelita out of the tower! She just passed out! Hurry up!”

Jeremie nodded, the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end. Whirling himself back around to face the screen, he felt an incredible sense of urgency fuel his emotions. “AELITA!! STOP!!”

Within the tower, Aelita slowly closed her eyes, preparing to focus her energy, before Jeremie’s fearful cry caused her eyes to shoot open wide.

“What’s wrong, Jeremie?” the elven warrior replied, worry tainting her tone.

“ _Cassidy just fainted!_ ” he exclaimed, the fear in his voice at a level not heard since XANA stole the Keys to Lyoko from her.

“What?!” Aelita couldn’t believe her ears.

 _“Get out of the tower, now, my angel,”_ Franz ordered.

She nodded, racing out to the path that led to the tower. “What’s wrong with her?” she asked, scared for her first roommate.

 _“We’re about to find out soon enough,”_   Jeremie tried to calm his voice.

In the lab, Cassidy slowly opened her eyes. “Ooh…”

“Cassidy’s waking up…” Sissi whispered.

Odd paused in the middle of bringing his hands together to do chest compressions, surprise and concern widening his eyes. “Cat Girl…?”

“D-did we deactivate that t-t-tower?” Cassidy moaned, attempting to lean forward, but being stopped by her lack of strength.

“N-not even close…” Ulrich wrapped his arms around her, his previous fear seeping through his trembling. He not only felt fearful for the psychic brunette but the feeling of failure, having not been able to stop, let alone predict, another fainting spell or heart attack. He vowed to himself that he would keep her from experiencing either one yet again, and the guilt began to eat away at him. What good was he to her? She could have almost gone into another coma, just after she came out of her previous one, and if she had, she might never have come back. _What is wrong with me?! I can’t even protect you! How can I be your close friend, and keep you safe, when I can’t even do_ that _right?!_

“Nothing’s wrong with you, Ulrich,” Cassidy whispered. “You’ve done enough in the last three weeks that make me proud. Heck, I still remember the times you helped me walk to the vending machines, and that was a great feat.”

Surprise widened Ulrich’s eyes, Cassidy’s truths slicing through his self-doubt and self-loathing like Moses parting the Red Sea. In his moment of fear that he had let her down once again, he had forgotten of all the times he had helped her, even throughout her initial coma, and afterward. He knew she wanted him to realize that he had nothing to be ashamed of, and his face soon began to soften, a sign that she was getting through to him.

“Besides, you’ve protected Aelita so many times that I have to say that you have already earned my pride to you,” she smiled.

That did it. A couple tears slipped down the samurai’s face. She already was proud of him. No matter how many times her telepathic words had annoyed him, she stayed positive to him. No matter how many bets they stacked against each other, she didn’t stray from their friendship, even when she lost once. And even when she falsely accused him, she never cut all ties with him. “Thank you, Cassidy…”

Cassidy grinned, her strength returning. “You’re welcome, Ulrich.”

Once Ulrich backed away from her, a cheery smile gracing his features, Odd gathered his girlfriend into an embrace of his own. “Cassidy!”

“Odd… Too _tight_!” she squeaked.

His eyes widened and relaxed his grip. “Sorry, Cat Girl.”

“I’m okay, Odd, I think. Maybe the air got too thick with excitement, and I just couldn’t take it,” she smiled.

He chuckled. “I taught you well.”

Jeremie sighed in relief, his whole body shaking like mad. “T-that was close…”

“I have a bad feeling about this,” Yumi’s words were filled with dread, the girl considering the possibilities, along with the reasons for Cassidy’s reaction. “Maybe we should abort the mission. Let Cassidy recover.”

“And leave that tower activated?” William protested. “What if we end up starting over with no memory of—”

“Look, it’s better if we don’t take the risk, Ex-y,” the geisha scowled at him.

“Hey, let’s just test it again, but this time we keep our eyes on Cat Girl.” Odd rose to his feet, trying to get the two raven-haired teenagers to stop fighting.

Cassidy winced but nodded slowly. “I hope you all know what you're doing…”

“Don’t worry, Cassidy,” Ulrich knelt in front of the bespectacled psychic brunette, placing his hand upon her right shoulder. “You’ve just gotta have faith in us. It’s like you just told me. Trust us, and have faith in us.”

“I do have faith and trust in you. The only thing missing is the pixie dust,” Cassidy fretted.

Patrick shook his head. “Well, don't look at me. It's not my fault that I look ridiculous on Lyoko!”

“It's not that bad…” Kaitlyn soothed.

“My outfit is pink! How's my ‘subconscious desires’ color pink?!”

“Guys! Focus,” Anthea raised her voice high enough to get their attention.

“Right,” both cousins chorused.

 _“Is something wrong, Jeremie?”_ Aelita queried, bringing the Einstein's focus back to the screen. _“Is Cassidy okay?”_  

“She’s just fine,” Jeremie replied, relief initially coloring his tone before slowly dissipating. “But you might have to go back into the tower, to see if that was what caused Cassidy to faint, all of a sudden.”

_“Are you sure? It sounds risky. She could faint all over again and—”_

“Aelita,” Franz said in a soothing voice, “we’re just curious to see if that's the case.”

“Let's go slowly, this time,” Yumi recommended, glancing over at Jeremie’s screen, briefly.

Cassidy felt a lump of nerves settling into the pit of her stomach. “Okay…”

Odd held her wrist. “I'm in position, General!”

Sissi sat behind her sister’s head, knees gently elevating it. “I’m ready over here, Jeremie.”

Ulrich sat beside the psychic brunette. “We’ll be right here, Cassidy. We're not gonna let you down, this time. We promise.”

She gently nodded, the reassurances the samurai gave her loosening the knots in her belly. “I'm ready.”

Yumi gave the blond genius a nod. “Go ahead, Jeremie.”

“Okay.” He turned to the communicator in his ear. “Aelita, you can enter the tower, but go slowly, okay?”

_“Okay.”_

On the Replika, nearest the wires, Aelita turned around and walked over. “By the way, Jeremie, this Replika seems to be from the original Desert Sector before it upgraded itself.”

 _“No wonder it was familiar to us. We're so used to the newest versions of the Sectors that some of the older stuff seemed off to us at first,”_ Jeremie replied.

“The wires are bigger here than the ones in our own Desert Sector. And there are more trees.”

 _“I miss those trees,”_ Odd remarked. _“Pulse is quickening, Einstein_.”

Aelita faltered in step. “Should I stop?”

 _“No, keep going,”_ Jeremie replied, his voice tensing up. _“It might just be a... coincidence, that’s all.”_

“Okay,” she nodded. Her walk toward the long, thin path leading toward the tower continued, the elven warrior taking a leisurely pace.

 _“I'm still surprised that XANA hasn't sent any monsters after you, Aelita,”_ Franz noted.

“It's strange to me, too. I have my Energy Fields at the ready if I need them,” she reported.

 _“Plus, you’re on your own, Aelita. XANA could easily send the Schyphozoa after you, and even if I did send someone else in after you, they wouldn’t be able to get to you in time,”_ Jeremie agreed.

“And it would break the deal we made.”

 _“You can say that again,”_ Odd commented. _“Hands are turning pale, Jeremie.”_

Aelita’s gaze slowly lowered to the narrow path below, sadness gripping her features. “Cassidy doesn’t sound like she’s getting any better. I really don’t think I should keep going.”

 _“No, you're almost to the tower,”_ Jeremie tried to keep the panic from reaching his voice. _“It’s… it’s probably because we keep telling her where you are. She’s just worrying, that’s all.”_

“Okay. I trust you, Jeremie.” She took a deep breath, before slowly pressing her body against the side of the tower, allowing it to gently pull her inside.

In the lab, almost as if on cue, Cassidy gasped, her eyes opening wide. In the time span of nearly a second, her eyes quickly closed once more, without any warning. The collective nerves of everyone in the room suddenly spiked.

Odd quickly pressed his middle and ring fingers against her wrist, hoping to find her pulse. His eyes widened as he ran his fingers up and down her arm, frantically, trying to find any sensation at all.

“Cassidy?” Ulrich tried to call her to consciousness.

“I can't find her pulse!” Odd shouted in panic. “Get Aelita away from that Replika, Einstein!”

“Okay!” Jeremie nodded. “That's it, Aelita. You need to come home, now!”

Aelita raced out of the tower, quickly activating her wings and flying toward the Skidbladnir.

Later, once Aelita was safely back in the lab with everyone in the group, she embraced her first roommate, body trembling. “I had no idea that I was hurting you!”

“It's okay, Aelita…” Cassidy tried to soothe her, keeping a calming tone. “Now I know what it's like to have a connection to Lyoko—just in a way we all didn't expect. Who knew that I had a tower on my chest?”

“This isn't a joke, Cassidy!” Jeremie scolded.

“I didn't even say it as a joke, Jeremie,” she looked at him, tone neutral. “If I had used my almost correct Southern accent to convey the question, then it would be your place to yell at me for a bad gag. But I was soothing your girlfriend and my first roommate for all of our sakes.”

He scratched the back of his head. “Yeah, you're probably right.”

“And it wasn't her fault,” she added.

“Look, Einstein, our nerves are frayed because things went differently than we thought they would. Let's just go back to the hospital and get a good night’s sleep,” Ulrich suggested, his tone equally even.

The Einstein yawned, understanding what the samurai meant. Everyone had been through the roof and back.

“I will work on the solution while you are at the hospital, Jeremie,” Franz promised.

“Plus you look really frazzled,” Anthea remarked.

“We all do,” Yumi nodded. “I'm sure that we will find it one day.”

“Goodnight, you three,” Ulrich smiled gently at William, Anthea, and Franz.

“Goodnight, everyone. Be careful going home,” the elven warrior’s mother grinned gently.

Aelita hugged her parents before joining the eight in the freight elevator. “Goodnight, Mommy. Goodnight, Daddy.”

“Goodnight, our angel,” the two parents chorused.

The walk to the hospital seemed to go on in silence, but inside the minds of the nine, the volume appeared to be on full blast. The surprise and confusion that filled their heads were the major contributors to the deafening noise. For Jeremie, Aelita, Odd, Ulrich and Yumi, knowing that Cassidy had special abilities was nothing new to them; but this was different.

This was something Aelita, in particular, knew the feeling of all too well. XANA had implanted some sort of connection into the psychic brunette, similar to what they thought had happened to her after Jeremie had finally materialized her. But for Cassidy, this was real. Her life hinged on the status of a tower on a far-away Replika. A tower neither she nor the others knew existed, until weeks ago. She had never known the feeling of someone else holding the switch to her life force, but now it scared her deeply. XANA could end her life in five seconds if he wanted to… but, like the others, she wondered why he wanted them to know about it. What purpose did it serve XANA to mess with them like this? Cassidy knew that Franz, Anthea, Jeremie and Aelita were going to figure it out… but how long would it take?

Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi knew the feeling of déjà vū quite well. But they also knew that they had conquered it before, even if this wasn’t just an oversight, a miscalculation on Jeremie’s part, like the one before.

While Ulrich tried to remind himself of the comforting, reassuring words Cassidy had spoken earlier, the perfectionist voice within him, the one that acted like a miniature version of the way his father, Bruno, used to operate, continuously reminded him that he wasn’t able to prevent Cassidy’s coma, and that because of that, he was responsible for XANA’s implant, no matter how many times the other voices in his head yelled at it. Sometimes he wished Cassidy could speak directly to that voice, giving it a swift kick in the proverbial pants.

Within Yumi’s mind, Cassidy’s two fainting spells continued to play over and over again, scaring the geisha. As much as she tried to hide her fear behind her tough exterior, she couldn’t help but worry for Cassidy’s health, and safety. She was afraid of losing one of her best friends, permanently, and knew that XANA could easily do the deed if he felt so inclined. Yet, the fact that he didn’t both surprised and soothed her. What could he be trying to do? She knew XANA’s opinion of Cassidy, and how much of a thorn in his side she was, ever since her first few visits to Lyoko. Yumi knew why he would want to get Cassidy out of the way, but why play mind games with them? XANA sometimes seemed to want to prove his superiority over the human race; was this another one of those times?

For Odd, it didn’t matter what he would be having for supper, that night; his girlfriend’s life was being threatened once more, and this was one of the few things that could ruin his usually pleasant disposition and appetite. It still seemed quite recent, when they faced off against the doctors and hospital security, to prevent them from severing Cassidy’s life support. He honestly thought his novia’s coma would be the last thing he’d have to worry about for a long time. But if his run-ins with XANA were anything to go by, her “fainting spell,” the code words they still used around the girl in question, was merely the opening act. He wished he could pilot the Skidbladnir directly to that Replika, find XANA, and smash him to pieces, in a suit similar to the A.I.’s own Kolossus. If only he could just beg Jeremie to program him one, he could take away theirs and Cassidy’s problems in one crushing blow… but even he knew it wouldn’t be that easy. XANA was a computer program, and while he was aware that Jeremie, Aelita, Cassidy and Franz were quite adept at thinking like one, primarily because they knew how to program, coding wasn’t his forte. No matter what his, Ulrich’s or anyone’s brash tactics would be, without knowing exactly how XANA worked, they would be doomed out of the starting gate. Still, it bugged him like very few things did, not knowing what to do, or how to even go about fixing this major problem they had.

Sissi, Kaitlyn, and Patrick were a different story. Even if the vortex had told them everything of their six friends’ adventures, they still lacked the first-hand experience that they had, which is what prepared them for this. Sissi, naturally, was worried and concerned for her “sister’s” safety. Of course, Kaitlyn and Patrick were quite concerned, as well, but they primarily felt deep-rooted feelings of shock that XANA would try such a tactic, not even realizing that their other six friends had been through much worse. Still, if such a thing were a sick, twisted version of Lyoko Warrior initiation, they were certainly handling it in a similar manner as the six more experienced Warriors.

Where Sissi felt worry and concern, Kaitlyn felt anger. Today’s mission notwithstanding, her opinion of XANA continued to fall and fall, and at the rate it was going, he would reach China by the end of the week. Whenever she imagined the scar on Cassidy’s back, as well as XANA’s tower on the Classic Desert Replika, she found herself thinking similar thoughts as Odd. She, too, wished it was that easy, to tear XANA subroutine from subroutine. Of course, had those conditions been correct, the malevolent multi-agent system would have been destroyed long before she and Patrick, much less Sissi, came into the picture. Until that did happen, however, anytime she came across any of XANA’s monsters on one of their Lyoko missions, she would show them absolutely no mercy. If XANA himself was willing to stoop to this level, to rid himself of one of her close friends, it was time for her to play exterminator.

Patrick found himself thinking similar thoughts as Ulrich, only his were less self-berating and seemed more like vows he was making to himself. Cassidy was rapidly becoming a close friend of his, and he hoped she could be one of his best friends, as well. He could already tell what Jeremie and the others thought of her, and had agreed, the more he spent time with her. It was feelings like these that led to him wanting to protect her more than ever. He also wanted to protect Aelita as well, naturally, but given that Cassidy seemed to be XANA’s primary target at the moment, he felt a strong desire to keep her safe. Looking at Ulrich as they walked, he could tell the samurai felt similar, and he knew he would gladly allow him to help in nearly any circumstances.

Walking near the front of the group, Jeremie’s mind found itself remembering thoughts he had, a couple years before. He had remembered the time when he assumed Aelita was tethered to XANA by a virus/link, and how badly he wanted to craft the perfect antivirus/breaker to free her. Even if Aelita’s problem later turned out to be a missing fragment instead, he knew Cassidy’s problem had to be in need of an antivirus/breaker, and that any of his previous research could easily come in handy. Despite the great lengths he went to for Aelita’s misled research, he would easily do it again for Cassidy, neuronal helmet exempt. There had to be something. Franz had to find something. He and Aelita had to find something. They weren’t about to completely surrender to XANA, under any circumstances. With these thoughts in mind, he then found himself asking a question he hadn’t asked, in several months: would he be sleeping tonight?

Next to the blond genius, Aelita carried similar worries as Yumi, even if both girls’ problems combined were nothing compared to the psychic brunette’s. She knew that her first roommate was quite often one of XANA’s favorite targets, even more so than herself, Ulrich, or Yumi. But yet, she also found herself asking similar questions as Cassidy herself. She wanted to believe that Jeremie and her father knew the answers and that she could trust in her own ability. She just needed reassurance. She knew Jeremie was bound to start working on something, and now that she was able to, without fear of detention or worse reprimand, she could work with him all night if she wanted to. Whenever XANA threatened one of her best, close friends, she would do everything in her power to terminate the threat, along with the help of her other best, close friends. She knew of strength in numbers, and how it always worked to their advantage, no matter how many Lyoko missions they had. That was all this was; just another Lyoko mission, or rather, a Replika mission. They’d figure it out. They’d deactivate the tower, at no cost to Cassidy, and they’d even teleport to find the Supercomputer hosting the Replika and destroy it, to further tighten XANA’s virtual bolts. However, was there enough time to do it, though? Would XANA let them have enough time to undo his plan, as they had done countless times in the past? Who was to say he wasn’t setting a virtual time limit, and simply not telling them about it? Were they going to wake up, one morning, and find Cassidy in a deep sleep that she would truly never recover from? This was something nobody wanted, especially not the psychic brunette herself. This was what they all silently pledged to actively work against. They wouldn’t let it happen if they could do anything about it.

Finding a moment of pause, Aelita cast a casual, curious glance at her first roommate. With everything that had happened that day, she could only imagine how Cassidy herself was handling it.

The usually vibrant, happy psychic brunette held her arms tightly against her sides, making sure not to smudge Sissi’s work. A switch in the roles wasn’t what she had prepared for. She thought she had no connection to Lyoko, no relation to Aelita and her family. While the latter had proven correct several times, it came as a massive shock to her to find the former was incorrect. How was it possible, that she would be connected to the world her first roommate’s father had created? Why did XANA play this game with her? All this time, she thought that he was just going to toy with her powers, and cause her ostracism with her loyalties. How could she have known that everything else was merely a warm-up and that XANA was finally taking off his virtual kid gloves, so-to-speak? She had seen the A.I.’s might to some extent, whether aimed at her, Aelita, or one of her other friends, and even though he had done something like this to her first roommate before… something felt different about this.

Then there were the ramifications of XANA’s trickery. What if the tower was only the beginning? What if XANA planned something with that entire Replika, and was merely waiting for them to return, possibly with something Jeremie, Aelita, Franz or all three had programmed, to try and break its hold on her, to put it into motion? The possibilities drove her absolutely and internally crazy. She couldn’t be attached to Lyoko; she just couldn’t. She wasn’t even a Schaeffer! Had she been swapped at birth, and secretly been Aelita’s sister, hence the vision-sharing in the Hermitage, a year before? But how? The scanners always told her, Jeremie, and Aelita that no: she never shared a shred of her first roommate’s DNA. But, could the scanners be lying? They were so accurate. How could they be wrong? Did she dare ask Jeremie or Franz to modify the search parameters, just in case?

Noticing the look in her eyes, Jeremie broke the silence. “Cassidy, I’m sorry…”

“It's not your fault, Einstein,” she replied. “You couldn't have known that XANA had pulled a few strings.”

“But you—”

“I'll be fine, Jeremie. I promise. It was scary, but we have been through worse before.”

Yumi looked at her, sensing the shield she was trying to hold up, before bringing her into an embrace. “Cassidy, it’s okay. We’re your best friends. You don’t have to be strong around us if you don’t want to be. We all want to help you overcome this, and we’re all here for you; you know we are. I know it seems strange at first, but Jeremie, Aelita, and Franz are going to find a way to get rid of the link between you and XANA’s supercomputer. We’re gonna get you through this.”

She whimpered a bit. “It scares me right now! There are so many questions that I don't have answers to. I don't know what to do!” Her words picked up speed as she spoke, increasing in pitch. “I didn't know that my scar held a clue to a tower…” Her body shook. “What will happen to me now?!”

Sissi and Odd soon approached the geisha, who allowed the two to join her in giving the psychic brunette a warm, comforting group hug, each combining it with soft, gentle rubs of her back, sides and arms.

“It's okay, Cat Girl. Just let it all out… We’ve got all the time in the world,” Odd soothed.

“I'm scared…” she trembled. “I don’t know if XANA’s gonna take me out in my sleep, or what!”

Aelita and Kaitlyn smiled softly and walked to their roommate. “We won't let that happen!”

“If he hurts you, he hurts us, too, but we’ll go on the counterattack!” Jeremie proclaimed.

Cassidy looked at the Einstein of the group, a sly grin carving her face, her body calming down. “You waxed lyrically there.”

“So what if I did?” he shot back playfully.

His reply was unexpected; it left the bespectacled psychic in a slight state of shock, her jaw dropping at the prospect. But before long, it vanished, leaving behind laughter, something she sorely needed at that point.

“Great work, Einstein,” Odd beamed. “You got her calmed down.”

“All I did was say one thing,” Jeremie shrugged.

Ulrich gently clapped the genius on the back, a smile gracing his features. “Well, what do ya know? Einstein is a bit of a comedian after all.”

“You did it, cuz!” Patrick and Kaitlyn chorused.

The Einstein of the group sighed happily. “That did get her voice to return to normal.”

Shortly after, with a now much happier Cassidy in tow, her bonds with her best friends reinforced, the Warriors soon returned to the hospital. Jim greeted them at the door.

“So how did it go, you nine? Did you show that XANA fellow what’s what?”

“Not just yet, Jim,” Jeremie answered.

“We ran into some… problems along the way,” Yumi added, attempting a somewhat tactful response.

“He put up a fight, huh? Maybe you can show him to me, and I can give him the ole one-two. It takes more than some resistance to defeat your friend Jimbo!” Jim proclaimed.

Cassidy pursed her lips, amusement crossing her mind. “You can't give him ‘the ole one-two.’” She giggled.

“Anyway, how about you all go get a shower and then a little shuteye,” he suggested.

“ _No hay problema, Señor Jim_ ,” Cassidy yawned. “‘No problem, Jim.’”

He scoffed happily. “I'll learn that language one day. Good night, kids.”

“Great to see you again, Jim,” Jeremie smiled, passing by the burly gym teacher.

Aelita patted his big arm, close to the genius's heels. “Thank you for all you have done.”

“Yeah, Jim,” Ulrich smiled, following Aelita’s lead.

Yumi leaped up and pecked his cheek, catching up with the four. “You’re still a fantastic P.E. teacher and a hero, Jimbo!”

Odd waved to the burly gym teacher, as he passed him. “Keep up the good work, Jimbo!”

Cassidy nodded, following Odd. “And I’ll try to send you more of my writing, Captain Jimbo.”

Kaitlyn and Patrick smiled. “Goodnight, Mr. Morales.”

“Hey! Two-thirds of the Belpois Clan! You don't have to call me that, okay? You see your cousin and friends calling me either Jim or Jimbo? They want to do that. I let everyone call me those names—probably not Jimbo, but anyway, you get the picture,” Jim smiled.

The two cousins nodded. “Thank you, Jim.”

“That's much better.”

Sissi walked past Jim, a smile on her face. “See you later, Jim.”

“See you, Sissi.”

A second later, Sissi suddenly came to a stop. Something about her pleasantries with Jim didn’t feel right to her. She had seen Odd and the others do something nice for him, yet she had merely told him “good night.” Turning around to face Jim’s back, she wondered if there was something more that she could do.

“Oh! I almost forgot!” she called out, racing back to the burly gym teacher, walking around to his front half, and wrapping her arms around him. “There! Good night, Jim!”

Jim patted her back as gently as he could. “Good night, Sissi.”

She grinned as she let go of him, joining her friends in the hospital room and gently shutting the door behind her. “You were right, Jeremie. It _was_ nice to see Jim again.”

“It sure was,” Ulrich agreed.

“Anyway, we still don't know what XANA is planning,” Jeremie ascertained, as Odd prepared his materials for his shower.

“My best guess is that we’ll find out by the end of this week,” Cassidy yawned.

“And the worst?” Sissi fretted.

“By the summer.”

“Let's just get showers and calm down for tonight,” Jeremie spoke up. “We can worry about it tomorrow.”

“Sounds good to me,” Yumi agreed, her tiredness beginning to permeate her voice.

Ulrich nodded. “It’s like you said, Odd; a shower really relaxes you.”

Odd smiled. “And you thought that by the end of the day, you would be able to go without me!”

He gently ruffled his dorm roommate's hair, almost in the same manner that, although they didn't know it at the time, the then-possessed William did before running off with Yumi for the math test he hadn't studied for. “Whatever gave you that idea? Now go get your shower!”

He grinned and walked to their bathroom. “I read you loud and clear, General!”

“I’ll have my shower last,” Cassidy said. “Lots to think about, after all.”

“That's fine,” Aelita smiled.

“But it was nice to see the Classic look of the Desert Sector again.”

“I don’t even know how XANA got his hands on the source code to generate it,” Jeremie commented, slightly confused.

Sissi sat beside the psychic brunette and rubbed her shoulders. “It was great to see Lyoko.”

“Maybe once we deactivate that tower, we can show it to you all the way,” Ulrich suggested.

“You mean that I will be—”

“Yep! A Lyoko Warrior, like us,” Cassidy agreed. It took a couple weeks, but she got better at accepting that the principal's daughter somehow knew about Lyoko and XANA. However, she couldn't let her just go around knowing about the virtual world without making her a member of their group. It wouldn’t be fair.

Sissi gathered her into a warm embrace. “That sounds so beautiful.”

“Yeah,” Yumi smiled gently, hoping Odd wouldn't take too long.

Ulrich yawned, his body feeling as though it had been crushed by a trap in a Sector Five Replika. “Definitely…”

It didn't take long for Odd to return, fully clothed, with his towel wrapped around his head like a turban. “Your turn, Yumi.”

One-by-one, the Warriors each had their own showers. Cassidy took her time, having to think about her mighty fine predicament. What was XANA planning on doing to her? Was he laying the bait to wait for her to get ensnared in a trap? Things didn't add up. How did he even do it, in the first place? It made little to no sense. She sighed, letting the water flow all over her body.

She had soon rinsed herself off completely and turned off the water. Her eyes darted around the room, before finding a lone white towel, folded up on top of the toilet. Walking over, unfolding it, and beginning to dry her body, her thoughts soon changed, as if turning off the shower head had flipped a switch within her brain. Her mind flashed back to the walk back to the hospital, and how she could feel that her best, close friends were there for her, just as they always were. She could feel Yumi’s, Sissi’s, and Odd’s warm hugs, their soft shoulder, side and back rubs, and the overall comforting feeling that they projected. Odd’s reassuring words appeared next, echoing through her mind as though the wildcard was right there with her. She could hear Aelita and Kaitlyn reassure her that they wouldn’t let anything crazy happen to her, and Jeremie almost singing a song when he promised a counterattack against XANA. The thought of the genius quoting a favorite song of hers elicited unbridled laughter as she reached for her clothing.

In a matter of minutes, the psychic brunette emerged from the bathroom, smelling and feeling fresh, with a noticeably more confident air surrounding her.

“You look better for a change,” Odd noted happily. “Looks like you washed away more than the dirt, huh, Cat Girl?”

“I'm not all the way better, but I do feel a little better than I did before,” she smiled and crawled into their bed.

He grinned as he sat down next to his novia, his hands gently rubbing up and down her back. “You’ll feel better in no time.”

“Yeah, you're probably right,” Cassidy yawned. “It's great to have such great friends ’til the end…”

“You took that line from the Subdigitals,” Yumi chuckled slightly.

“Hey, we were DJs at their concert—Aelita and me,” Cassidy giggled softly, body relaxing. “But it was thanks to Aelita that the cover went in our favor.”

Aelita giggled. “All I did was arrange the music to match up with your song choice. I can't take all the credit…”

“Neither can I, especially since it was a team effort, Aelita,” the psychic brunette smiled gently, voice trailing off. “I gave Jeremie credit for the science project we had done before you were materialized—It involved making an electric circuit with a lemon. Had it not been for the fact that I had a paper cut that day, and the juice burned it, I would have helped more…”

“I was shocked you screamed that loudly,” Jeremie mused.

“I remember that day.” Sissi jumped in, surprise adorning her features. “I almost thought you saw a ghost or something.”

“That would have been a distinct possibility,” Jeremie chuckled slightly.

“Sh…” Odd hissed, still rubbing his girlfriend's back in circles of varying sizes. “Cassidy is falling asleep…”

Indeed, the bespectacled girl had fallen into a deep sleep, muttering complete nothingness to anyone within earshot. “Kiwi, put the saxophone down… You don't have a license to drive it…”

Odd looked down at his dormant novia and smiled amusedly. “And apparently she’s dreaming about Kiwi, too.”

Aelita and Kaitlyn held back giggles, walking toward their own beds. “That's our roommate.”

Jeremie smiled softly and laid in his bed. “We’ll find the solution one day.”

“I hope so,” the wildcard whispered.

“Same here,” Yumi agreed softly, extending her arm to touch fingers with the sleeping samurai.

“You and Daddy can find a way,” Aelita smiled.

“We can try our best, Aelita.” The Einstein of the group felt his cheeks flooding red.

Sissi giggled, noticing the redness in Jeremie’s cheeks, while she and Patrick walked to their respective beds, and climbed in. Tonight may have been a bit disappointing in the development, but to see their friend, or “sister,” feel better than she did during their walk back put smiles on their faces.

Nearby, however, while Odd continued to soothingly caress his girlfriend’s back, Cassidy found that her dream slowly began to turn nightmarish, as her arms and legs began to slowly move as if she were running away from something.

“No… It can't be… Let me out…” the psychic brunette’s tone slowly turned fearful. “What are you… no…!”

Odd’s eyes widened, slightly, as he watched his novia begin to toss, in the throes of the nightmare that suddenly began to grip her mind.

“Cassidy?” In reply, the wildcard’s soft, gentle rubs transformed into a gentle shake, determined to rouse the psychic brunette, and hopefully change her dreams. “Wake up, Cat Girl…! It’s me, Odd! You are having a nightmare!”

“Didn't I warn you about the singing salamanders, Odd…” Cassidy uttered, waking up in a daze after the eighth consecutive shake.

In reply, Odd gently patted her on the shoulder, a gentle smile gracing his features. “Yes, Cat Girl… You really did. Go back to sleep.”

As though on cue, the psychic brunette's eyes fell shut, prompting a sigh of relief to pass through his lips. “Don’t worry, Cat Girl, your knight in shining armor is here… I’ll make sure your dreams are sweet, or my name isn't Odd Della Robbia!”

To further drive home his point, the wildcard gently laid himself down, next to the slumbering brunette, gently wrapping his arms around her, in the same manner he had done, ever since she had awakened from her coma. Relaxing in the warm, gentle cuddle of his novia, he soon drifted off to sleep.


	6. Deactivating the Darn Thing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hunter Moebius and I don't own Code Lyoko or Kaitlyn Belpois.

The sun’s warm rays shone through the windows of the hospital room, illuminating each of the nine sleeping Lyoko Warriors, gently rousing each of them in sequence. It had been a week since Aelita’s botched tower deactivation, and while Cassidy still worried about what XANA was planning to do with her, having the comfort and reassurance of her eight close, best friends helped to counteract this quite well, nightmares notwithstanding. Jeremie and Franz were hard at work, trying to figure out not only the reason behind Cassidy’s mysterious scar, which also held the coordinates to the Old Desert Replika that contained the mysterious tower, but also the tower itself, and its link to her. Franz had relegated most of his work to the overnight and early morning hours, and while Jeremie tried to help during those periods, Anthea and Aelita both convinced him that his time would be best spent sleeping during those hours, primarily from Aelita’s concern over his all-nighters, before the vortex’s appearance. Anthea had also tried to convince Franz of the same, but found it harder.

After the sheer number of hours both Jeremie and Franz had put into research, they knew a breakthrough was right around the corner. Having gotten incredibly close the night before, as Jeremie had prepared to sleep, he placed his phone upon his nightstand, knowing Franz could call him at any moment with the good news.

And on this occasion, the call Jeremie was expecting soon came. At nearly the moment the phone began to emit noise, the genius jumped up to grab it from the nightstand. “Hello?”

_“Jeremie, it’s Franz. I’ve got some good news. Eat breakfast, gather the others, get dressed, and meet us at the factory.”_

His eyes widened. “Okay, Mr. Schaeffer. We’ll be there.”

As the blond genius ended the call, the sound of Ulrich’s yawning from nearby caused him to flinch.

“What’s going on, Jeremie?” the samurai asked, half-asleep.

“It was Franz. He has some good news to give when we get to the factory, but we have to eat breakfast first,” he smiled gently, not wanting to scare his friends.

“I hope we don’t regret it,” Yumi lamented softly. Her fears weren’t unfounded; the last time that a stranger at the factory, especially one who had taken the name of Aelita’s father, had good news, she and Cassidy had some sort of neural cellular degeneration, before the man ended up being a fake, getting rid of their weapons and life points in the process.

“I’m sure that we won’t,” he reassured.

“Kiwi… stop driving that saxophone,” Cassidy muttered, mind in total sleepiness, prompting some chuckles from the genius.

“Maybe we should wait until she wakes up,” Odd suggested, an amused smile christening his face. “Something tells me Kiwi is still trying to gain his license.”

Aelita looked at her first roommate. “I think she’s found a series of good dreams to deal with.”

“They’re sometimes peppered with nightmares. In every one, she is stuck in one place until something else happens.” The wildcard looked at his novia with concern. “I don’t know what it means yet.”

Ulrich leaped to his feet, a concerned look crossing his eyes. “Let’s not take it lightly. We failed to listen to her dreams once, and look at where we are now. We will never do that again, remember, Einstein?”

Jeremie nodded in agreement. “Yes. We’ll have to see what she remembers.”

Sissi already had a plan in mind. Quietly, the former snob walked over to the half-dreaming psychic brunette and tickled the bottom of her foot. “Wakey, wakey, sister…”

Right away, Cassidy’s eyes shot open, laughter bursting through her mouth like a geyser. When the principal’s daughter stopped wiggling her fingers, she couldn’t stop cackling for a few seconds more. “S-Sissi… A-aw, come on…”

“You were so silly,” Aelita giggled.

Her cheeks flooded red. “You were silly about a month ago, but I still enjoyed it.”

“Guess what, Cassidy?” Jeremie announced.

She tilted her head to the side. “Did Mr. Delmas finally finish his plans for the school?”

“No, not yet. It’s even better. Franz has some good news for us, and he wants us to go to the factory after breakfast.”

“Great! Let’s go, then!” Sissi proclaimed.

After breakfast, the nine Lyoko Warriors got dressed and walked out of the hospital, their minds abuzz with the possibilities of what Franz was going to tell them, once they got there.

“I wonder what the good news is. I can’t wait!” Aelita smiled.

Kaitlyn shrugged. “I hope it’s an end to that miserable son of a—”

“Kaitlyn!” Patrick and Jeremie chorused, their visages the mirror image of shock.

“Well, it’s true. XANA inflicted this misery on Aelita and Cassidy, and it’s high time that he pays,” Kaitlyn growled.

“Maybe he has something else in mind,” Odd suggested.

“Who knows?” Yumi smiled.

“We’ll know once we get there,” Cassidy smiled, excitement starting to grow within her.

In the factory, Franz sat in the chair, his fingers making quick work of the Supercomputer’s keyboard. As the sound of the freight elevator door opening filled his ears, a smile graced his face, despite being obscured by his facial hair. “Great to see you all. I found the solution that might break the grasp between Cassidy and the tower.”

Glances were soon shared among the nine, excitement and shock crossing their facial features. This was what they had hoped either he or Jeremie would soon discover.

“B-but what is it, Mr. Schaeffer?” Jeremie stuttered.

Franz took a deep breath, a contemplative frown taking shape. “This might be difficult to do, but...Cassidy must deactivate the tower.”

Cassidy’s eyes widened, and her jaw dropped, as a look of abject fear took hold. What was this man asking her to do?! She couldn’t deactivate a tower! The only time she’d actually deactivated one was with his help, and she was under his control at the time. So how did he expect her to deactivate it, now that he was actually flesh and blood again, sitting in the chair in the factory? Was he nuts as Aelita bemoaned he was when the End of the Year Dance was going on?!

“I can’t do that! You, Franz, told me yourself a month ago that I don’t possess the Keys to Lyoko!” Cassidy protested, feeling weak in the knees. “Deactivating towers is Aelita’s job! I only...ugh...what fresh Hell have I trampled into this time?!”

The shock from Franz’s request, and her inability to understand, caused her to begin hyperventilating. In response, Odd leaped into action, wrapping Cassidy into a warm, comforting embrace, his hands softly caressing her back.

“It’s okay, Cat Girl… You’ve seen Aelita go into towers millions of times. Maybe it’s time for her to have...a vacation from one more of them.”

Slowly, Cassidy’s breathing started to hit all cylinders. However, tears welled up in her eyes. “What—what if something goes wrong? XANA could be laying the bait for me!”

Yumi slowly approached the couple, soon reaching around Odd to softly rub Cassidy’s shoulders.

“It’ll be okay, Cassidy. We’ll all be watching you do it,” she cooed.

“Yumi… I don’t know…!” she hiccuped. “I never—I never done this before on my own… A-And XANA…”

Sissi gingerly ran her fingers up and down her sister’s back. “It’s only one of them, not a full battery of towers you have to deactivate.”

Cassidy nodded, but still trembled in their comforting embrace. “I d-don’t want to go there… I… W-what if I suffer just as much there as I did here?”

“Then Einstein, Princess, or Henri will devirtualize you and we’ll find another solution. We’re with the three brightest minds of our group, ya know,” Odd smiled.

She looked into their comforting faces. “You sure that I could be yanked back to safety?”

Before anyone could open their mouths to speak, the elevator opened once again, and a shaggy-haired William staggered into the Lab, slightly irate. “Next time you have a party… invite me, huh? Now, what did I miss?”

As Ulrich explained to him what was going on, Yumi smiled at the psychic brunette. “Yes… We will get you back safely.”

A shaky whimper escaped her Savior’s throat. “I have a bad feeling about this…”

“How hard can it be?” Ulrich added his own attempt to calm Cassidy. “You go in, enter the code, and you’re done.”

“I don’t even know how to pilot the Skid.” She gritted her teeth, hiding the action behind her lips.

Jeremie’s, Ulrich’s, Yumi’s, Odd’s and Aelita’s eyes widened, when they realized she was right. This was one thing neither of them had thought of.

“That’s right, or maybe Jeremie can drive it with that remote control feature that saved the Skid that one time,” Yumi blinked, surprised.

Jeremie smiled. “That could work.”

Cassidy’s feet shivered inside her shoes. No matter how many reasons she brought up, counterpoints were fired right back, making it harder and harder for her to get out of going. She was absolutely terrified at the thought of going out, by herself no less, to a place she had never been to, possibly leaving herself at XANA’s mercy. Why was everyone else dead set on her going through with this? Couldn’t they see how incredibly terrified out of her mind she was, no matter how reassuring they all tried to be? Going on a Lyoko mission with the entire group was one thing; a solo mission was something completely different: something that wasn’t even in the same _league_ as a group mission, to her. They couldn’t force her into going, could they?

She looked at the group, the fear threatening to swallow her eyes. “This isn’t the same as going to Lyoko as a group…”

Odd sighed, knowing she was right. Even when he, Cassidy, and Aelita stowed away to find out information about the pink-haired warrior’s father, or when Jeremie and Aelita snuck her aboard the Skid to take her to the Ice Replika, she was never alone, either time.

“Cat Girl has a point, guys. She’s always been with a team on Lyoko,” he looked at them.

“And just look at her,” Sissi brought up. “She’s absolutely terrified.”

“We can’t force her to go if she’s scared to death,” Jeremie sighed. “But what do we do now? That tower isn’t going to deactivate itself, I’ll have you know!”

The psychic brunette whimpered, her lungs threatening to make her hyperventilate. “I’m sorry…”

“I have an idea,” Aelita spoke up. “Maybe we could go to the forest for a bit. Get some fresh air before we make any decisions on Cassidy going after the tower today.”

The genius of the group sighed, a ball of anger boiling in his heart. “Yeah, we can go stretch our legs.” He turned to Franz. “See you later, Mr. Schaeffer.”

He nodded. “If there’s anything I can do, young friend, you give me a call.”

“No problem, Daddy,” his daughter smiled.

Later, Cassidy sat under Ulrich’s tree, breaking sticks as she knew the German-named boy to do, whenever he occupied the spot. “I just don’t know what it’ll do to me.”

“You don’t have to do it now, Cassidy. It’s not selfish of you to wait a day or two. It’s not the end of the world,” Aelita reassured, patting her first roommate’s shoulder.

The psychic brunette grasped another stick in her hand. “Then why do I feel like a selfish loser for getting so frightened like this?”

“It’s probably because it’s a big deal to everyone, but you don’t need to feel that way. It’s not as though you’ll turn into a garden gnome or something if you want to wait a bit.”

She quirked a smile. “You really think so, Odd?”

“Sure I do, Cat Girl!”

While the others tried their hardest to reassure and calm Cassidy, keeping her spirits high as much as possible, the opposite effect was happening a short distance away. Jeremie was feeling quite sore over Cassidy’s decision to leave the tower activated, over what he perceived to be a terrible excuse, due to her tendency to be overly timid at times.

“This is just fantastic!” the blond genius ranted to an invisible audience, clenching his fists in anger. “Cassidy’s too afraid to go to Lyoko by herself! She should be begging me to virtualize her, so she can get the darn link between her and XANA severed, but instead she’s got cold feet! How do we expect to get anything done, if she refuses to deactivate the tower?! It’s not like we can just send more than one person into the Network; XANA’s probably gonna send a ton of monsters after the Skid, and the whole mission will go down the drain! All because that _dangerous_ psychic won’t just get it together and take the Skid for a drive! What has gotten into her?!”

Cassidy frowned, overhearing his anger-filled speech. This worked to nearly undo everything the others had tried to build up. She felt absolutely terrible, having heard how the blond genius truly felt. Did it really mean this much to him? She knew he could get quite absorbed in his work, but to hear it straight from his mouth, even if he was just burning off steam, and didn’t know she could hear him… it only served to make matters worse for her.

“Hey, Einstein, would you keep it down, by any chance?” Ulrich deadpanned.

Yumi rose to her feet, folding her arms against her chest. “Look what you’re doing! You’re making things a lot worse for Cassidy! She’s trying to keep herself from crying, because she’s terrified over what you want her to do, for your information! So why don’t you just chill, okay?”

“That’s right, Jeremie. You don’t need to get so carried away.” Aelita kept her voice level. “I don’t think getting all worked up is going to help matters.”

The genius scratched the back of his head. “Okay… maybe you’re right. But I thought you’d be more than ready to go to the Old Desert Replika, especially since you might be the only one who can destroy the virus XANA implanted in you, Cassidy. Piloting the Skid isn’t as hard as all that.”

“Maybe we can do the remote control feature,” she suggested, meekly. “Plus, I don’t feel right going on my own. Sure, when Aelita was still trapped on Lyoko, I could go there as a solo warrior, knowing that she’d be there and I wouldn’t be alone. Going just by myself, especially since I have a gigantic duty upon my shoulders, makes me feel scared.”

“But you like being by yourself sometimes,” he interjected.

“On Earth, Jeremie, not on Lyoko. It feels dangerous, and I know that I have you all cheering me on, but in my nightmare, I’m trapped in the tower alone, and no one can get me out. Committing virtual suicide and having you try to materialize me, both ways—Code: Earth and the normal way—fail.” Cassidy looked off to the side.

Odd’s and Sissi’s eyes widened. Was this the nightmare she kept having? The two were quite surprised to finally hear about this, and even more so when it seemed not nearly as terrible as Cassidy made it out to be. They both knew that she had been through similar scenarios, Odd through first-hand experience, while Sissi was given this information via the vortex, but they, especially Odd, also knew that she was one to blow seemingly-terrible sequences out of proportion. So what would it take to get her to realize that there was a small chance that her worst-case scenario would actually come to pass? XANA had been true to his word the first time around, when Aelita went solo, and while Odd knew the A.I. would go back on his word on occasion, Sissi wondered if he would keep actually keep it the second time around, as well.

“And it might increase your claustrophobia,” Jeremie realized, remembering the time that XANA trapped her in a closet before the incident with the storm drain. Cassidy had a mild form of the aforementioned fear, where it struck only on rare occasions. When he attacked and locked her there for more than a couple hours, the condition increased to moderate on Earth. However, she was able to combat it inside her NavSkid, or in a tower.

She nodded, bringing her knees to her chest. “And the thought of going alone… It’s… I don’t know how to describe it.”

“How can we prove to you that you’ve got nothing to worry about?” Jeremie inquired.

“I don’t know.”

“Is there a way to install some clones?” Ulrich asked, trying to think of some way.

“XANA would probably think we broke word,” the psychic brunette frowned, “then he would open fire on me before anyone can help.”

“What if they’re invisible?” he suggested.

“He’s cloaked towers, Ulrich,” Aelita pointed out, putting a hand on her first roommate’s shoulder. “He’ll probably see right through it.”

“Maybe we could try the Reverse Schyphozoa again?” Odd picked up a stick, passing it to his girlfriend.

“But that only worked when I had my blackout visions, and those stopped after a while,” Cassidy said, gratefully taking her boyfriend’s “gift.”

Jeremie put his fingers to his chin, a profound thought hitting him. “Maybe we could…”

“Could what?” Aelita and Sissi chorused.

“We could use it to send warmth to Cassidy’s heart!” His eyes widened. “Instead of memory, we could copy a piece of our courage and send it to you.” A grin slowly grew on the genius’s face. “Odd, you’re the greatest.”

“Okay, but you better not kiss my head again,” Odd protested. “I still don’t know what got into you when you did that.”

His cheeks flooded red. “I, uh... kinda got overexcited…”

The wildcard rolled his eyes. “I’ll say.”

“Do you think it’ll work, Jeremie?” Aelita asked.

“There’s only one way to find out,” he chuckled.

A few moments later, Cassidy walked into the scanner room with Aelita and Yumi right behind her. “I hope you know what you’re doing, Einstein.”

 _“Everything will be under control, Cassidy,”_ Franz’s voice came over the intercom.

A shiver shot down the psychic brunette’s spine as she entered the center cabin. “I hope so.”

Aelita and Yumi sent reassuring smiles in Cassidy’s direction as they entered the left and right cabins, respectively.

 _“Since there are more of us, you’re going to stay in the scanner longer than when there were just five of us, Cassidy,”_ Jeremie informed her.

Cassidy looked up at the scanner ceiling. “Gotcha, Jeremie.”

_“Ready, girls? This might feel weird at first.”_

“I think the student population already thinks of me as the weirdest female student to walk onto the campus,” the psychic brunette muttered to herself, then raised her voice higher. “Ready.”

“Ready,” Aelita and Yumi chorused.

_“Here we go.”_

The doors to the cabins closed around the girls. Moments later, the wind turbines underneath each of the three kicked up, blowing torrential gusts upward as if they were about to be virtualized. They began to levitate upward and downward, as Jeremie made the appropriate transfers, before the turbines decreased their speed, enabling the occupants to slowly float to the floor. Within a few seconds, the scanners containing Yumi and Aelita reopened.

_“Okay, Aelita and Yumi. You can go up to the lab. Odd and Ulrich, your turn.”_

Yumi and Aelita stepped out of their respective scanners, before approaching the freight elevator. They only had to wait a few seconds before it opened, revealing Odd and Ulrich, who quickly traded places with them, and walked toward the open scanners, while Aelita and Yumi rode the freight car back up to the laboratory.

Once Odd and Ulrich had repeated the process, they were replaced by Sissi and Kaitlyn. After they, along with Patrick, William, and even Jeremie, Anthea, and Franz, the genius and the original programmer soon returned to the lab to make the final transfers.

 _“Okay, Cassidy,”_ Jeremie’s voice intoned from the intercom, once she was alone in the scanner room, _“we’ve got everyone’s courage copied into the supercomputer’s memory. Now, all we need to do is transfer those copies to you. Are you ready?”_

“I-I think so,” Cassidy trembled.

 _“Don’t worry, my dear,”_ she heard Franz’s voice replace Jeremie’s over the intercom, a sense of calming, reassuring fatherliness exuding from his words. _“It won’t take much longer. It’ll all be over, soon.”_

No sooner had he said this, then the wind turbines restarted within Cassidy’s scanner, once more. As the psychic brunette was gently lifted, lowered and rotated in place for the seventh time, a strange feeling began to fill her. She couldn’t quite identify it at first, but something was reprogramming her brain. She felt her worries slowly slip away, as if Odd had given her a very soothing, relaxing back rub, or she was wrapped in Yumi’s warm embrace, to be replaced by a new feeling. A feeling of a new desire. It was as if Jeremie’s rant, earlier in the forest, had finally gotten through to her, as her inhibitions had been completely destroyed by the supercomputer.

A few short moments later, the wind turbines slowed, as Cassidy gently floated down to the floor. In a few seconds, the scanner finally reopened, allowing the changed Cassidy to leave its warm depths, and venture toward the freight elevator.

 _“Okay, Cassidy,”_ Jeremie spoke one final time, _“you can come back up to the lab.”_

The psychic brunette did as she was told, with a new set of feelings controlling her. Once the freight car had landed on the laboratory floor, she stepped out and approached Odd, who immediately wrapped his arms around her.

“How do you feel, Cat Girl?” he asked, immediately noticing the changed look on her face.

Cassidy looked into Odd’s eyes. “I need to go to Lyoko. It’s the only way.”

Her boyfriend’s jaw dropped. “Uh, oh… I think we copied more than our courage.”

She shook her head. “No, Odd, I really need to get to Lyoko today! Jeremie’s right, the tower isn’t going to deactivate itself.”

“We don’t have to worry about it now, Cassidy,” Sissi suggested.

She looked at the former snob, copying the same motion she did to Odd. “I’m the only one to do it.”

“If you need some time to think about it…” Jeremie began.

“We cannot waste a day or two on it, Jeremie! I—I’m heading back to the scanner room! We need that tower deactivated after all,” Cassidy interrupted the blond genius, turning around and walking back toward the freight elevator, without giving him a chance to talk her out of it.

“Be careful, I don’t know how long our program will last,” he warned gently.

Odd looked at Ulrich. “I think our program has flipped Cassidy’s lid,” he whispered.

For once, the samurai stared blankly at the freight elevator. He began to consider the ramifications of what they had just done. Sure, they had intended to merely give Cassidy a confidence boost, but from what he and the others had just seen, what if they had completely changed her personality, by mistake? What if this was no longer Cassidy, but rather a female clone of Jeremie? He wasn’t exactly sure if he preferred this version of her, to the one that they had tried to reassure, in the days leading up to this.

As the freight elevator’s doors closed, Jeremie felt shock overcome his entire being. What had they done?! He had only intended to make her more confident, and comfortable, to match his own thoughts of how she should react. If that was his intended goal, he exceeded it, and that was what worried him. What if this was only the beginning? After she deactivated the tower, and severed the link XANA created between himself and her, would she stop? What if she ended up surpassing him by the mere change alone? Sure, she wasn’t totally smart, and her grades only served to keep up with her classmates, but what if she turned into a total genius?

Aelita’s face also bore a look of complete surprise. If this was what her knight in glasses had in mind, when he wanted to boost her confidence, she felt as though she shouldn’t have been surprised, but she also worried even more about Cassidy than she had before. Having confidence like Ulrich and Yumi did was one thing, but feeling as though you could completely steamroll XANA, when you only had the power to destroy a MegaTank was something else entirely, and it was this that she feared her first roommate planned to do. She would have a serious talk with her boyfriend, should he ever have a plan of this magnitude ever again.

Yumi found herself of two minds, when it came to Cassidy’s drastic personality change. On the one hand, she was glad that some of her confidence could be directly transplanted into the psychic brunette, and that she wouldn’t worry as much about going to Lyoko, or anyplace on the Network, by herself. But on the other hand, she, like Aelita, Jeremie, and her boyfriend, began to worry about what else Cassidy now felt she was capable of. If anything, she didn’t want the brunette to run off on her own, and become some sort of virtual superhero, subjecting herself to things that might take their toll on the human being she cared a great deal about, and treated like a little sister. As the freight elevator closed, she cast a look of shock in the blond genius’ direction, projecting her displeasure toward him, and fearing what she might do, afterward.

Cassidy’s sudden departure left Odd with a look of surprise on his face, similar to that of Jeremie’s. What had Einstein done to his novia? She had never been this confident about anything, aside from the times when her psychic powers allowed her to predict the outcome of a Lyoko mission, but it had been at least a year since that had happened. Now that she felt as though she could take on the entire Network, if not XANA’s entire army, possibly after the A.I. had possessed the entire Kadic student body and faculty, he, too, felt worry threatening to overtake his usually cheery demeanor. His girlfriend was going to come back to Earth in one piece, wasn’t she? He certainly hoped she would, and wouldn’t decide to go gallivanting across the Network, feeling like a one-cat-girl army. Even if he assumed Einstein would appreciate that, he most certainly would not.

Sissi brought her hands up to her face, covering her mouth in total surprise as Cassidy made her way back to the scanner room. Was this what Jeremie had in mind, when he wanted them to transfer bits of their courage to her? Or did Jeremie accidentally transfer a bit too much of his own, or his own thought processes, to her “sister”? In any event, this new Cassidy didn’t seem very much like the old Cassidy to her, at all. Any happiness she might have felt over the psychic brunette’s sudden confidence boost was washed away by the fear of what actions Cassidy would undertake, as the result of Jeremie’s tactic. This was way too crazy to her, and she hoped Jeremie would realize the same, and work to undo it, following the Old Desert Replika’s tower’s deactivation.

Kaitlyn also sent a look of anger in the blond genius’ direction, amazed that the result of his theory produced this level of change in her roommate’s disposition. How could he have done this to her?! This wasn’t courage! This was madness! He had certainly gone more than too far with the courage transfer, and now Cassidy was liable to get herself killed. She didn’t want this to happen, and she knew none of the others did. If her cousin had any shred of decency in him, he would fix this, right after the tower was deactivated. Otherwise, she’d have something to say to him, and she wouldn’t force herself to mince words, no matter how much the others detested her swearing.

Patrick was amazed that something of this level had been accomplished. When Jeremie had told him and the others about the courage transfer, he had no idea that bits of everyone’s courage combined would produce this. Had they gone too far? Had they pushed things over the edge? By Cassidy’s actions after she returned from the scanner room, he felt as though she acted in a similar manner to how his cousin normally acted, whenever he was absorbed in his work. He wasn’t fond of Jeremie acting in such a way, and he hoped that this, too, would pass, and Cassidy would slowly come down from her courageous high, and settle into something a bit closer to her original personality, even though he wouldn’t mind a reasonable amount of courage remaining behind.

William had seen his former girlfriend act similarly, but to see her behavior reach this level was somewhat foreign to him, and he joined the others in their surprise. He had thought back to his induction into the Warriors, and how he felt ready to take on whatever XANA could throw at them, despite his ex’s, and new friends’, objections. With this, a new fear grabbed him by surprise. His mind immediately jumped back to the black hole, and scattered memories that remained of the time XANA had controlled him, and made him into his image. He knew that was a result of his negligence, and while he was thankful that the others hadn’t kicked him to the curb, over things which were beyond his control, his greatest fear was that XANA would see her sudden, incredible boost of confidence, and decide that she should be his successor. He squeezed his eyes shut, a sudden chill shaking his body, as he forced the thought from his mind.

Meanwhile, Franz and Anthea also surveyed the scene, Aelita’s mother bearing a look of shock, similar to her daughter’s, while Franz’s eyebrows rose, his facial hair conveying a slight change in the shape of his mouth. Had Jeremie and himself gotten in over their heads, without realizing it? With Cassidy’s actions to judge, he feared they had. Having temporarily lost his wife and daughter, now that he had both back, he was loath to lose another close person, or any of her friends. He and Anthea felt as though they had informally taken on the role of the Warriors’ surrogate parents, and therefore bore the same burdens of worry as the others, fearing for Cassidy’s safety, as well as what she might do with her newly-transplanted courage.

He felt Anthea lean closer to him, as he watched the look of fear that gripped her face, knowing full well that she felt similarly.

“Do you... think we did the right thing?” her voice quivered.

“I…” He was afraid to answer. “I don’t know.”

Cassidy walked over to the scanner she once resided, stepping in. “I’m ready, Einstein.”  

Shelving his inner turmoil, the Einstein of the group started to type on the keyboard. “Transfer, Cassidy.”

The doors to the cabin closed around her. She closed her eyes as the wind turbines picked up speed.

“Scanner, Cassidy.”

The machine began to read her biometric data from her toes to the tips of the hair on her head as the wind blew her dress upward.

Seeing the model on the screen solidify, Jeremie entered the coordinates to Sector Five’s arena. “V-virtualization!” He called out, voice catching slightly, as he pressed the Enter key.

The wind turbines picked up more speed as the light shined brighter behind her eyelids, feeling herself whisked away to Lyoko.

Her body appeared, hovering near the ceiling of the Arena in Sector Five, first as a wireframe, which was slowly drawn in midair, from her head to her feet, before the exterior was added in the same manner. Once her Lyoko appearance had been fully drawn, Cassidy felt the feeling return to her body, as she dropped to the spinning floor, landing perfectly on her feet.

 _“Everything okay, Cassidy, Darling?”_ Anthea asked, her voice trembling.

“Yep. Landed on Lyoko, safe and sound,” she breathed calmly, as she turned to the top eyelash and raced through to the elevator.

 _“Be careful, Cassidy,”_ Jeremie whispered. _We almost lost you twice last week, and we don’t want to do that again now._

“Jeremie, I’m going to level with you. I’m not going to get cocky,” Cassidy scowled. “Unlike someone I know…”

 _“I know I’ve screwed up, Cass!”_ William interjected, angrily. _“You don’t have to rub it in!”_

 _“Yeah, Cassidy, ease up a bit. Too much throttle and you might crash,”_ Ulrich advised.

She pursed her lips, but said nothing. Stopping at the edge, she waited for the elevator to reach the level she was on, and when it did, she stepped on the platform. It rose up to the Skid Garage.

Cassidy looked up at the ceiling. “I still don’t know how to pilot the Skidbladnir.”

 _“Don’t panic, I can control it for you,”_ Jeremie reassured.

In the Lab, Aelita, Yumi, Ulrich, Odd, Sissi, Kaitlyn, and Patrick sighed in relief. Even though the personality change had occurred, they were relieved that Jeremie hadn’t completely turned Cassidy into a clone of himself.

In Sector Five, the psychic brunette raced for the teleport spot that Aelita normally took when it came to Replika missions. “Let’s get this tower out of the way.”

 _“Energize!”_ Jeremie announced.

A bright beam of light rose up, transferring the cat girl into the cockpit.

Automatically, without needing to press any buttons, the interface opened. “Everything seems to be working, Jeremie.”

 _“Okay.”_ In the lab, Jeremie continued to press more keys. _“Releasing docking mechanism.”_

In seconds, the five mechanisms that held the Skid in its place in the Garage relinquished their hold on the craft, slowly retracting toward the surrounding walls.

 _“Lift-off!”_ Jeremie and Aelita chorused.

In a slight instance, Cassidy smiled, feeling herself want to giggle at the cute talking in unison. However, the sensation lasted a second, catching her into intense focus. “Ready to go.”

Under Jeremie’s expert navigation, the Skid launched from the Garage into the Celestial Dome, before circling the sphere, and cruising through a tunnel. Once outside Sector Five, the craft sharply descended toward the Digital Sea, stopping briefly, before plunging into its depths.

Once freed from Lyoko, and its gravitational field, the Skid cruised through the Digital Sea, and through different network nodes. Surprisingly, just as he had been when Aelita had made the journey the week before, XANA was noticeably silent.

“Strange that XANA is still keeping his word,” Aelita wondered to her knight in glasses. “Normally he would go back on it somewhere.”

In the cockpit, Cassidy nodded. “I have to agree with you there, Princess. XANA has never held his punches back like this.”

Aelita’s eyes widened, a gasp escaping her lips as her ears caught Cassidy’s use of her nickname. _She’s never called me that, before…_ she wondered, in surprise. _What other traits of the others has Jeremie transferred to her?_

Soon, the Skid was slowly cruising up to the gate that led into the Old Desert Replika. Once the craft was in front, it rotated into a vertical position, holding steady by the XANA symbol on the gate.

Cassidy placed her hand on the scanner Aelita used to access the Replikas. “Digital Key, engaged!”

A white beam of light fired from a small cannon below the cockpit’s windshield, which connected with the center of the Eye, allowing Jeremie access.

 _“I’ll crack this code in no time at all,”_ he explained.

“I don’t doubt your abilities for a moment, Einstein, considering all that we have done so far,” she looked up at the ceiling of the cockpit.

 _“Yeah!”_ Odd smiled.

Just as Jeremie had promised, the beam of light quickly broke away from the Eye, dissipating into pixels in the process, as the lock on the gate disengaged. The center plate, bearing the XANA symbol, slowly slid downward, as the entire gate itself opened like a gigantic mouth, with each of its teeth moving aside in a circular formation. Once the entryway was clear, Jeremie navigated the Skid through the gate, and into the Old Desert Replika.

Breaking the surface of the Digital Sea, the Skid careened upward, rising toward a series of platforms.

 _It’s so beautiful,_ Cassidy mused. _Like everything else on Lyoko._

 _“Ready to disembark, Cassidy?”_ Jeremie asked cautiously.

“Yes, Jeremie.”

_“Disembark, Cassidy.”_

With the press of a few keys, Cassidy felt herself disappear from the Skid, before reappearing outside, atop a platform below where the Skid had landed.

 _“Do you feel anything so far?”_ he worried.

“No. Things seem calm, even internally.”

 _“So far, so good, right?”_ Odd asked, still not sure what Cassidy would do.

“I guess so, but there’s still the matter of the tower.” She turned around and ran off toward its halo.

 _“Still no monsters. That’s weird,”_ the Einstein noted.

“Usually such a thing would be suspicious,” the psychic brunette looked up at the sky. “And I still feel the same about XANA somehow keeping his word.”

Soon, she met with the narrowing path ahead of her. _Here goes nothing,_ a tiny thought rose within the confines of her mind. The psychic brunette faded into the tower, feet meeting the center of the first platform. “I’m here, Aelita. I still don’t feel anything strange occurring inside me. What should I do now?”

Aelita felt further surprise over Cassidy strangely not feeling anything like she did, the week before. However, she quickly tried to quell this, in order to concentrate on the question that the psychic brunette had asked. If Cassidy had to do this, to sever the link XANA had created, then she must have similar abilities to her own, when it came to deactivating the tower on the Replika.

“Listen carefully,” the pink-haired warrior began. “Close your eyes, and visualize yourself floating upward.”

Taking a deep breath, Cassidy did as she was told, feeling a warm sensation surrounding her body. It soon carried the psychic brunette upward, into the far reaches of the tower.

In normal circumstances, the brown-haired girl would have been afraid, nervous, and excited all in one go. However, Cassidy didn’t feel these things, as her feet touched the second platform.

_“Okay, now walk to the center.”_

Cassidy enacted this gesture, slowly walking toward the center of the platform. As she neared the middle, however, the holographic interface suddenly appeared, startling the girl, and causing her to jump backward several inches. From the lab, as she watched the arrow that represented Cassidy suddenly shoot backward, Aelita found it hard to stifle a giggle, as it reminded her of the first time she deactivated a tower.

“It’s okay, Cassidy, the screen’s not going to bite you,” she said amusingly.

In the tower, Cassidy tittered nervously as she approached it. “Sorry, I guess I’m still jumpy.”

 _“It’s okay,”_ Jeremie reassured.

 _“Now, place your hand on the screen. You don’t have to keep it there very long, just about a couple seconds at most,”_ Aelita instructed.

Cassidy took her right hand and placed it on the interface, holding it there for a couple seconds before putting it down.

As she removed her hand, she found it had left a print on the screen, which had been surrounded by a segmented square, for several tenths of a second, before disappearing. Once it had disappeared, the screen wrote out her first name, letter by letter, which flashed a couple times after it had been written fully, before it, too, disappeared.

Gulping, feeling some of her inhibitions return, Cassidy tried to focus on the task at hand. _Next, the code._

The interface asked for it next, leaving a horizontal cursor on the bottom.

“Lyoko…” she whispered, mentally typing it in. “Tower Deactivated.”

Back in the lab, upon hearing those two words leave Cassidy’s virtual mouth, smiles immediately blossomed upon everyone’s faces, as the collective tension in the room was mostly relieved. Along with this release, the group began to cheer, excited that the virus XANA implanted within Cassidy might possibly have been destroyed by the tower’s deactivation, no matter how strange the entire process was. Yumi showed her excitement by embracing Ulrich in a warm, comforting hug, which the German-named boy returned without a second thought, equally relieved. Aelita wrapped her arms around Jeremie, pulling the Einstein of the group into a loving cuddle. Nearby, Anthea found herself copying the gesture toward her husband, Franz, feeling as though she had informally adopted the role of the Lyoko Warriors’ surrogate mother, as Franz had taken on the role of father.

While the gang was celebrating back on Earth, within the tower Cassidy had just deactivated, something interesting was about to happen. Unlike most times where the screen would simply continue to display the words “CODE LYOKO”, it instead suddenly began to flash white, troubling the psychic brunette.

“Uh, Aelita...what do I do if—”

Suddenly, before she could finish her sentence, a strange sensation she hadn’t felt in several months suddenly returned, rendering her eyes a pure white in the process.

As her vision went pure white, just as her eyes had done moments before, a dream began to play in her mind, as if she were asleep. Within this dream, she could see a scientist in a white coat carrying a bag. To her surprise, it had been labeled in Sharpie Marker, quadruple underlined, “ **_PRECIOUS DNA. INJECT TO SUBJECT 12 IMMEDIATELY!_ ** ” The scientist soon approached an unconscious figure, lying upon a cot of some sort, with various different wires going to and from its body, similar to a hospital, or research facility, setup. The scientist reached forward and took one of the wires, before reaching for the bag he carried. This created a momentary pause, which enabled Cassidy to get a closer look at the unconscious figure. To her horror, she realized the body, to which various wires of different sizes and colors had been attached, was hers.

The scientist soon opened the bag, revealing a syringe. Noticing this, Cassidy immediately tried to regain control of her powers, only to find them refusing to respond to her. She found herself unable to pull away, as the scientist grinned evilly and inserted the syringe into the line he held.

While the dream continued to play, within the tower, Cassidy began to toss back and forth, trying to fight to regain control of her abilities.

“NO! This has to be fake! It can't happen! It's not real!” Cassidy shouted, trying to make some sense of the vision that haunted her eyes.

 _“Cassidy?!”_ Jeremie came on the line. _“Are you okay?”_

Suddenly, the screen gradually turned black, releasing its hold on the psychic brunette. She gasped as though she came out of a swimming pool.

_“Cassidy?!”_

“J-Jeremie?” she looked up.

 _“Are you okay?”_ he asked again.

Cassidy blinked, as her breathing slowly returned to normal. The shock of the previous situation was still fresh on her mind. As she heard Jeremie’s reply, she quickly racked her brain for the best way to answer, but her eyes widened, once she realized something was missing. No matter how hard she tried to remember, she found that the vision she had just seen had disappeared, almost as if it had been erased from her memory, or blocked out by her brain, out of some sort of fear-driven emotional response.

“I think so. I guess I had a weird dream or something, even though virtual beings never sleep,” she shrugged. “Did I deactivate my first tower?”

Nearly everyone in the lab sighed with relief, breaking the collective tension which had rebuilt itself after Cassidy’s screams. The eleven proceeded to let out quick cheers, as the general morale improved, just from Cassidy’s reminder.

 _“Better believe it, Cat Girl,”_ Odd shouted. _“How does it feel now?”_

“I guess it feels kinda good, Odd,” Cassidy smiled as she walked over the edge of the second platform and floated to the first. “I guess I had nothing to worry about!”

The psychic brunette happily walked among the bottom eyelash, before heading toward the tower wall. As she prepared to phase through, she suddenly found herself bouncing off, as if she had missed the train on Platform 9 ¾.

“Huh?!” Her eyes widened. “Uh… Aelita? It's not normal for a tower to lock someone inside or outside, right?”

_“What?”_

“I can't seem to exit the tower… Is something the matter on your end?” Her insides started to rattle.

In the lab, the genius of the group typed on the keyboard, panic gripping his gut. “Uh… I'm checking it out right now.”

_“Okay, this is freaking me out, now…”_

His fingers exploded into high gear, checking every little program. He quickly scanned her Identification Program, but was surprised to find that there hadn’t been any special modifications. He then tried checking her Annex Program, hoping it would yield answers, yet came up empty.

While the genius searched, Cassidy backed away from the wall, bringing herself back to the center of the lower platform, before sprinting toward the inner wall. To her great surprise, she bounced off once more, landing on her butt. She trembled at this realization. “Jeremie?!”

_“I'm looking for the answer, Cassidy. Just try to meditate, sing a song, something like that. I won't rest until you can get home safely.”_

She nodded, singing a country song. “Last night, I took a picture out from our old dresser drawer… I put it on the table, and I talked to it ’til four… I read some old love letters right until the break of dawn…”

In the lab, everyone paced around. This was a nightmare. Cassidy's own bad dream had just come true; and to top things off, they had just inadvertently sent her into the lion's den.

“What are we going to do?” Yumi moaned, her hands balled into fists.

“I'm looking!” Jeremie's voice raised by two octaves.

“Look harder, Einstein!” Odd ordered.

“Now Cassidy is bound to avoid going to Lyoko again, for a long time!” Ulrich remembered the first time the psychic brunette saved his girlfriend from certain doom, and the painful aftermath that had followed. If it hadn't been for Aelita's kind and caring words, Cassidy probably would have avoided Lyoko for a month, instead of only a week.

“She hasn't done that in ages, but it can still happen.” Yumi gulped.

“Don't panic! I'm trying to rematerialize her.” Jeremie kept typing.

“Do you think it's going to work?” Aelita asked, voice betraying her fear and anxiety.

“It might work, my angel,” Franz said, trying to soothe everyone.

Patrick nodded, trembling. “Jeremie is one of the brightest kids in Kadic, joined by you. He’ll know what to do…”

Kaitlyn looked at the screen as though it had a ghostly image upon one of the windows. “Cassidy…”

“She’s going to be okay…” Jeremie's fingers raced over the keys.

“She’d better be!” William interjected, slowly becoming agitated over the fear of what could happen to her. “We can’t let XANA capture her, or whatever he’s planning to do!”

Suddenly, Cassidy heard a rumbling sound in the distance. Her eyes widened as she paused her singing. “Jeremie. I think I heard something.”

 _“Were they pulsations?”_ Aelita asked. _“Is it another tower?”_

“I know pulsations/pulse beats, Aelita… but the sound I heard aren't them,” she answered. “You said it yourself when you were here that there aren't any other towers that you could moor the Skid to. This sounds like an earthquake.”

As she neared the end of her sentence, the distant rumbling began to slowly fade away, before disappearing completely into silence.

“Maybe it's just a sandstorm or something. XANA played that card on us before.”

 _“But that has only been a few years ago,”_ Yumi told her.

 _“DARN IT!”_ Jeremie yelled, startling the stuck girl backward. _“I’ve been typing on the materialization program, but it won’t let me lock onto your coordinates! As far as it’s concerned, you’ve completely disappeared off from the map!”_

“Let’s try Code: Earth. I may not have been a prisoner of XANA—okay, maybe once when he wanted Aelita’s memory exposed—but it’s worth a try, right?” The psychic brunette trembled, as bits and pieces of her nightmare started to close in around her, as though the Schyphozoa somehow found a way to enter the tower and wrapped its many tentacles around her.

_“No dice! Code: Earth also requires coordinates, and it won’t let me if it says you’ve disappeared, too.”_

She gulped, shuddering. “This is freaking me out, dude…”

It was at this point that Jeremie's mind suddenly flashed back to the moment in the forest, earlier, when Cassidy explained her recurring nightmare. At the time, he thought it ridiculous and childish that she would worry about something he deemed a scenario that was incredibly improbable; now, the fear of something terrible happening to Cassidy made him think twice about his earlier remarks, even if certain elements, such as a Schyphozoa attack, weren't possible as long as she was stuck within the tower. But that was the current problem; she was out of his reach, and no matter what he tried, it didn't bring her any closer to him, or the rest of her caring, loving friends. He felt a mixture of hopelessness, fear and anxiety overtake his entire being, as he cradled his head in his hands, before Aelita placed her arm around his back, rubbing it softly and reassuringly.

 _“I'm sorry, Cassidy,”_ the blond genius lamented, having a hard time disguising the mixture of emotions in his voice. _“I should've listened to you, when you warned everyone about your nightmare.  I thought it was ridiculous, and that it would never come true, and I shouldn't have gotten so angry at you.”_

“I don’t blame you, Jeremie. You were trying to help me. And you were right; I was being a coward about the whole situation.” She looked at the entrance.

 _“You weren’t. I should have checked that tower even more,”_ he bemoaned.

Before she had a chance to reply, her ears detected another distant rumble, this one seeming slightly closer than the last, widening her eyes as a consequence. A short time after, noticeably longer than the previous one, the ambient noise dulled to a whisper, before vanishing altogether.

 _“You okay, Cat Girl?”_ Odd asked.

She looked around. “I think so. It’s weird. That was close.”

 _“That was longer than the last one. I wish there was some way to materialize you,”_ Jeremie’s voice pitched higher in fear.

A sudden thought hit the psychic brunette, a smile blooming on her face. “I have an idea that I used once before. Remember that moment when Aelita regained her memories?”

_“How could I forget? That was an intense day, as well as scary. What about it?”_

“I remember being able to get back to Aelita, but then having to shoot myself in the jaw before she could even talk to me. I had phantom pain in my teeth for a week, but it sent me back to the scanner room.”

 _“Committing virtual suicide… It’s risky, but we don’t have much choice,”_ Jeremie replied, uneasily. _“Do it.”_

Fishing a tube from her sash, she mentally commanded it to turn into a gun. “Here goes nothing.” Turning the weapon to her chest, she took a deep breath, closing her eyes, and clicking the hammer back.

_Heart don’t fail me now._

Her claw closed in on the trigger. Slowly, it pulled the lever backward, her worries intensifying as she felt a slight amount of resistance, before squeezing her closed eyes, and pulling the trigger the rest of the way.

A shot echoed off the tower’s cylindrical walls; yet instead of pixels flaking off her outfit until only a wireframe was left, she was jerked backward, to the center of the first platform. “Ow…!”

 _“Cassidy?! Are you okay?!”_ Aelita cried out.

“No…” she groaned, trying to ignore the pain in her chest and the echoes around the tower. “T-that was stupid…”

 _“Well, at least you can regenerate in the tower, right?”_ Odd suggested, trying to raise everyone’s morale.

She coughed. “I thought that was exclusive to Aelita.”

 _“Actually, everyone can,”_ Aelita answered. _“My rate’s a little faster for some reason.”_

Surprised, Cassidy decided to test her friends’ suggestion, by reclining herself further, until she was resting on her back in the center of the platform. She figured it wouldn’t hurt any more than her botched attempt at devirtualizing herself, and would give her something to do until Jeremie, Aelita or Franz discovered a way to rematerialize her.

As the psychic brunette closed her eyes, however, another rumble penetrated the tower walls, reopening Cassidy’s eyes with the sudden realization that these rumbles were closer than before.

“Jeremie? What is going on?” she whimpered, feeling them jostle the pain in her chest. “Ow…”

 _“We don’t know… This is so weird!”_ Jeremie answered.

The rumbles continued for a few more seconds, before coming to a complete stop, causing the cat girl to breathe heavily.

“Ooh…” she moaned.

 _“Cassidy?! Are you there?!”_ Anthea asked over the intercom.

“Y-yes, Mrs. Schaeffer… Holy cow… These are getting closer…”

 _“You said it, Cat Girl. They even seem to last longer and longer.”_ Even Odd’s voice was beginning to show more fear and concern than before.

She curled into a ball in the center dot of the tower’s first platform, her voice quivering with worry. “I don’t like this…”

 _“We don’t like this at all either, Cassidy, dear,”_ Sissi whimpered.

“I wanna go home...with you guys…”

No sooner had she finished her sentence, than more rumbling began, scaring her to the point where her entire body began to tense up. To her, it seemed almost as if her nightmare was truly about to become a reality, in one way or another.

She gritted her teeth, her heart pounding in her ears. “Einstein…”

The faint rumbling continued to penetrate her eardrums, but after a short period of time, rather than coming to a stop as it had before, the shaking suddenly intensified, as Cassidy felt the platform underneath her begin to vibrate slightly.

 _“Cassidy, what’s going on?!”_ Jeremie cried.

“I—”

Before she had the chance to even begin her sentence, the shaking sensation that filled her ears, and moved the platform beneath her was soon accompanied by faint explosions from afar, scaring the psychic brunette even more, if such a thing was even possible.

_“The Replika’s degenerating.”_

_“And Cassidy can’t leave the tower,”_ Franz worried.

Soon another explosion was heard, followed by another.

 _“Cassidy?!”_ Odd and Yumi cried out simultaneously, abject fear gripping them tightly.

“O—Odd… Y—Yumi? H-help!”

But no sooner had she said that, than even more explosions were heard, becoming more and more frequent. It was in that moment, that everything suddenly went black for the psychic brunette, culminating with the sound of a bigger explosion sailing through the speakers within the laboratory.

The tower that held Cassidy prisoner had exploded.

Instantly, the collective tension within the lab had reached a fever pitch, fueled by the sound of the explosion filling the entire room. Aelita’s grip around Jeremie tightened, as looks of pure fear enveloped hers and her knight’s faces. Odd, Yumi, and Ulrich quickly turned to each other, silently hoping one of them would assure the other two that the explosion meant nothing, and that Cassidy was merely biding her time before her next reply. This worry gripped Odd the most, his facial features stricken with a fearful grimace, to which Ulrich and Yumi placed their hands upon his shoulders, each giving them a soft, reassuring rub. Sissi squeezed her eyes shut, placing her hands over her mouth, hoping against hope that nothing had happened. Patrick, Kaitlyn, and William shared worried looks, with William’s slightly more intense, while Anthea nearly thrust herself into Franz’s arms, tears threatening to fall from her squeezed-shut eyes, as her husband softly rubbed her back, hoping to calm her, even if he, too, feared the worst had happened.

Jeremie stared at the screen, his body trembling and his breaths coming out in short bursts. Cassidy couldn't be… dead, could she? Internally, he hoped against all hope that she would give them a sign that she was okay.

For an hour, if someone were to drop a pin on the lab floor, the occupants would have jumped fifty feet. Jeremie had glued his eyes to the screen, hoping for any sign of activity, yet refusing to look away, even as Aelita buried her face in his shoulder. The others hadn’t fared any better; Yumi cradled Odd, while Ulrich softly rubbed his dorm roommate’s back, Sissi found herself in a comforting embrace with Patrick, tears gushing down the former’s cheeks, while William and Kaitlyn paced back and forth near the holomap, waiting for any positive or negative sign to come to them.

And after a few moments, something did happen. As the blond genius continued his razor-sharp stare at the center screen, a window suddenly appeared, causing his entire body to shake, and Aelita to lift up her head, in surprise.

“W-what is it, Jeremie?” Yumi asked, trembling in her shoes.

“‘Body recovery: Female,’” Jeremie read from the top of the window, calming down. “Lyoko is trying to save our friend.”

“W-what?” Aelita looked up at her knight in glasses.

“Cassidy is going to come back soon,” Jeremie realized.

Immediately, the other nine occupants zoomed toward the screen, overjoyed looks spread across their faces, as their collective eyes beheld the scanner window, which showed one of the scanners slowly working. At that moment, nothing could pull them away, after the long, agonizing period of terror that resulted in the fear that their close friend had fallen into the Digital Sea.

Their eyes remained glued to the rectangular box within the window for what seemed like three long hours, before all eight of the vertical progress bars finally reached the top of the rectangle.

“To the scanner room, quick!” Jeremie ordered.

A few minutes later, they converged upon the scanner that housed the psychic brunette, as its doors slowly opened, revealing the shell shocked girl, amid the mist it expelled in the process. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head as she began to sway back and forth.

Odd and Ulrich held out their arms, ready to catch Cassidy in them.

“It's alright, Cassidy! You're going to be okay,” Ulrich reassured quickly, as the girl landed in his and his roommate’s arms.

“Welcome home,” Odd tried to put on a smile, to disguise the overload of emotion that plagued him, at the sight of his novia.

“B-but what happened? I t-thought—” she whimpered, absolutely terrified.

Jeremie approached the brunette and gently rubbed her back, grateful that his program had worn off. “It doesn't matter right now.”

Sissi threw herself at her “sister,” wrapping her into an embrace. “Another miracle has happened in France!” She trembled, her voice breaking.

“Sissi? Odd?” Cassidy looked into their faces, feeling woozy.

“Easy, my dear,” Franz reassured. “You’re still a bit unsettled from the experience. Just relax…”

“We can help you up to the lab,” Yumi whispered softly into the confused girl's ear.

Cassidy nodded, tears welling up. “I'm never deactivating another tower again…!”

“You don't need to worry about doing that again,” Jeremie agreed carefully, as Anthea cradled the shaken psychic. “That will be your only tower you did yourself.”

She sobbed into the shoulder of Aelita’s mother. Everything up to that point came flying out of her eyes as tears; being stuck within the tower, comparing the faint tremors and explosions to her nightmare, and the strange time period between her disappearance from the Old Desert Replika, and subsequent rematerialization in the lab, safe and sound once more. She had never been that frightened in her entire life, and hoped she would never have to endure a mission of that caliber as long as XANA was still at large.

Jeremie looked at the gang, as relief began to wash over his entire being. Cassidy had returned through a mysterious event, one which he couldn’t even remotely begin to explain, but all that mattered was that one of his close, best friends had come back. He wasn’t normally one to show emotions other than anger, happiness and excitement, but even he couldn’t stop his own eyes from welling up with tears.

“You don't have to deactivate another tower ever again,” Aelita soothed, her own tears falling down her face. “From now on, that’ll be my job.”

Cassidy tightened her grip on Anthea, her trauma still rippling through her system.

Patrick took a deep breath. “Do you think we can go back to the hospital? A good shower, a hot meal, and a great night’s sleep always h-helped me when I felt bad.”

Ulrich looked at the sobbing brunette. “Would that be alright for you, Cassidy? A shower, eating something, and some sleep?”

She whimpered, but nodded, still traumatized. Maybe it would help her relax, something she sorely needed after the events of that day.

Sensing this, Jeremie calmed down and smiled. “You don't need to worry about Lyoko for a long time if you need to.”

“That's true,” Yumi cooed, reaching up to touch the psychic’s elbow.

“Let me carry her with you guys,” Anthea offered.

“That would be wonderful, Mrs. Schaeffer,” William smiled, looking at his ex girlfriend. “You do what you can to get better, okay, Cass?”

Later, the eleven walked into the evening landscape. Cool air wafted into Cassidy's nose, prompting her to take a couple of deep breaths. Her mind was still quite shaken up after what had happened, to the point where she began to wonder if this was merely a dream, and that she had fallen into the Digital Sea when the Old Desert Replika’s tower exploded, rather than landing in Odd’s and Ulrich’s arms, safe and sound in the scanner room.

Sensing the existential crisis about to arise, Odd thought of a memory that happened during the life or death battle at the hospital. Something Ulrich said made him break down into laughter, garnering the attention of his novia.

“What's gotten into you, now, Odd?” Sissi protested. “Can't you see that she is still in shock?”

“Is it true that I'm pretty when my teeth sparkle, Ulrich?” the wildcard chortled.

Ulrich came to a sudden stop, nearly falling forward in the process. He couldn’t believe Odd had remembered something he said, while he was sedated. The samurai quickly whirled around, sending the wildcard a glare.

Cassidy, however, moved her head from Anthea’s shoulder to her boyfriend. “What…?” she squeaked, a little amusement fluttering into her eyes.

“Oh, it's so true,” the former snob squealed with laughter, realizing what Odd was doing. “You really did say that, Ulrich, dear.”

The samurai’s cheeks flooded red. Not only did Sissi refuse to deny that the utterance had ever left his mouth, she also used a nickname he still despised, even if he wasn’t sure whether or not she still had feelings for him.

Cassidy suddenly remembered the bloodshot look in his eyes. “Did you just come out of the dentist’s that day, Samurai? And the laughing gas hadn't worn off yet?”

A few chuckles escaped Odd’s mouth. “If he did, he sure came out of there pretty fast! His shoes were smoking, and everything!”

“I bet he thought that he had a banshee right on his heels!” the psychic brunette grinned.

Ulrich adopted a look of surprise, as he looked at the three in absolute disbelief. Yumi hid her face in her hands, shaking in quiet laughter, as she knew her boyfriend was embarrassed by the remark.

Jeremie scoffed, trying in vain to hide his laughter. “And he thought Aelita had sprouted a halo, sitting in the chair!” He subtly winked at his mortified friend, knowing full well that he didn't say anything of that sort, as though to say, in his own way, “Just roll with it.”

Ulrich gave him a look in reply. “I guess they thought I had something wrong with one of my teeth. But they stopped when they realized they had someone else's X-Rays, before any damage was done. Patrick just collected me from there, and helped me walk back to the hospital.”

“It must have been another unrelated Stern,” Cassidy shrugged, cackling.

This was all it took to break Ulrich’s composure. The samurai’s eyes closed as he hunched forward, folding his arms across his stomach, while laughing his head off. They had gotten him good.

Ulrich wasn’t the only one who benefited from a good belly laugh; Cassidy, too, felt the positive healing effects that laughter normally caused, as relief spread throughout her entire body in response.

“Looks like your comedy routine worked well, Odd,” Patrick smiled.

“Better believe it,” Odd quipped.

Anthea and Franz smiled at the ten Lyoko Warriors. They were relieved that they were still able to laugh off the horrifying scene from before, no matter how they all reacted to the fear of the psychic brunette’s mortality. It gave the two a sense of relief, as well, to see their smiling faces as they walked.

It wasn’t long before the eleven soon walked through the sliding doors of the hospital, and entered its reception wing. As they walked, they happened to pass Doctor Chantal, who was busy examining a slip of paper that was pinned to her clipboard.

As the Warriors passed by, the doctor looked up, before her eyes happened upon Anthea, causing her to drop her clipboard in shock. “What happened to Miss McGuire, ma’am?!”

Anthea turned her gaze toward Cassidy, whose head still rested against her shoulder, before returning it to the doctor, as she quickly formulated a plausible lie.

“She… had gone out for a run with her friends, and had gotten a bit too tired out,” she explained. “She complained that her legs felt like gelatin, so I offered to carry her back here.”

Dr. Chantal blinked, the look of surprise on her face relaxing, slightly. “She shouldn’t have engaged in that sort of activity while she was still recovering. You may place her in her room, on her bed. If her legs don’t start healing by tomorrow, we’ll have to look at them.”

Anthea bowed her head, nodding. “Yes, Doctor.” She walked into their room and gently set the psychic brunette on her bed.

Once they knew that the coast was clear, Jeremie opened the floor. “That was a great cover you told the doctor, Mrs. Schaeffer!”

“Yes, thank you, Mommy!” Aelita smiled.

“My pleasure! I didn't want you to go through the trauma if I told them the truth,” the elven warrior’s mother smiled, gently kissing Aelita on the forehead before repeating the same gesture on Cassidy.

Odd sat on his girlfriend's bed. “It's true that we had to do that ourselves every now and then, but you did perfectly.”

Anthea’s smile slowly turned into a slightly uneasy look. “I’ve… had to do something like that for myself, once or twice…”

Franz turned to look at his wife. “It’s okay, dear. The important thing is you’re safe and sound, now.”

“And so is everyone else,” Yumi smiled gratefully.

Anthea smiled as her husband wrapped her in his warm embrace. He and Yumi were right, and she was relieved that she would hopefully never have to deal with that nightmare ever again.

Her eyes then gazed over at the bespectacled psychic, hoping that she could have a chance to be calm as well, however she chose to obtain it.

Interestingly, as if Anthea’s mere glance was a trigger, the psychic brunette’s stomach began to rumble.

Cassidy held her growling gut. “I'm hungry…”  

Odd smiled. “You took the words right out of my mouth, Cat Girl! Let's order from room service.”

“It must've been while you were kissing me,” Cassidy bantered. “But yes. Let's do it.”

Before Odd could ask everyone what they wanted, Franz’s brow rose gently. “You love Meat Loaf, Cassidy?”

“He’s a good artist. Yeah. My parents got me into rock and roll when I was five,” Cassidy smiled.

“She’s an oldies fan, but she also loves new ones, too.” Sissi approached her “sister” and gently ruffled her hair.

The brunette smiled, a purr leaving her throat. “That feels nice.”

Soon everyone had decided what they wanted to eat, and Odd made the phone call. Room service delivered everyone’s food, and they all ate, jovially talking and joking amongst each other. A good half-hour after the meal had finished, Franz and Anthea bade the Warriors farewell, giving hugs, and in Anthea’s case, kisses, all around. As the two approached the door to their hospital room, Franz promised the two would return the following morning, as soon as they could. Closing the door behind them, silence soon befell the room after the Schaeffers’ exit.

Cassidy put a hand on her chest, wincing at the phantom pain. “Ooh…”

“That must be some heartburn, Cat Girl,” Odd noted.

“No, it's where the bullet hit my heart on Lyoko… Ow…” Cassidy grimaced. “I bet this will last a couple weeks…”

“Maybe reclining might help?” Jeremie asked cautiously.

“Maybe.” Cassidy minutely shrugged. Slowly, she leaned back into her bed, the pain slowly ebbing away. “Okay, that helped.” She smiled. “Thank you, Jeremie.”

“You’re welcome, Cassidy,” Jeremie replied, as his voice slowly turned despondent. “It's the least I can do, after what I did to you.”

“It's not your fault, Jeremie. I was the wuss!”

“Yeah?! I was forcing you to do something that you didn't want to do right away!” Jeremie shot back, keeping his voice level. “In a way, I hurt you.”

“But I made you—”

“Stop it, you two!” Yumi spoke up. “Look, we’re not going to get anywhere by arguing about who’s right, and who’s wrong. The important thing is that we’re all here, safe and sound. Cassidy deactivated the tower on the Old Desert Replika, and now she’s free from XANA’s clutches.”

Jeremie sighed; he knew Yumi was absolutely right. Given that she was not only the big sister figure for himself and his friends, she also had the tendency to be one of the voices of reason in the group, along with his own girlfriend. He couldn’t argue with her, especially when she spoke the truth.

“Cassidy, I'm sorry for yelling at you and acting like a three-year-old baby.”

“And I'm sorry for getting you hot under the collar,” Cassidy lamented.

“Cassidy, we are still your friends, and you have so much ahead of you, now,” Jeremie encouraged. “It’s like I told you before: We’re just hormonal, emotional kids dragged into a dangerous game…”

“And we let our hormones and emotions get ahead of us?” Cassidy smiled, raising a brow.

“Exactly.”

She nodded. “Thanks, everyone.”

Odd hopped onto his girlfriend's bed, wrapping his arms around her and laying his head on her chest. “Don't sweat it, Cat Girl.”

“And I still love what Ulrich said to you…” she giggled.

Ulrich let out a groan as he leaned forward, covering his reddening face with his hands. If he knew his friends as well as he thought he did, he knew they’d never let him live that one down, even if he wasn’t completely himself when he said it. “Hey, cool it, huh? That's ancient history!”

The psychic brunette shrugged. “Okay.” A yawn escaped her mouth. “I hope I don't have any nightmares tonight…”

Odd raised his head and kissed her on the lips. “Not if Odd the Great, the Brave, the Magnificent, has anything to say about those nasty nightmares or night terrors!”

“ _Gracias, Odd, mi novio._ ”

Yumi grinned. Seeing the cute things Odd did for Cassidy warmed her heart, as she knew she was in good hands.

“You are definitely great, Odd,” Sissi extolled.

“And brave,” Kaitlyn agreed.

Patrick nodded. “And magnificent.”

Cassidy smiled. “And you all have done so much for me.”

Jeremie nodded, the gears in his mind slowing to a fatigued crawl. “That's enough excitement for one day.”

Ulrich brought a hand to his mouth, yawning into it. “You're right.”

“It's been a big day,” Aelita agreed, already ambling to her bed, bringing Mister Pück into her arms.

“Okay, we get the picture. We all could use some sleep,” Yumi said, walking to her own.

“Goodnight, Everyone,” Kaitlyn waved.

“Goodnight, Kaitlyn,” Jeremie replied.

Once everyone had tucked themselves into their beds, they each closed their eyes, and began to drift away, one by one. Yumi gently extended her hand toward Ulrich, who copied the gesture, this time holding hands, rather than merely touching fingers, as they had done on most nights. Jeremie glanced over at Aelita, admiring his pink-haired beauty queen of a girlfriend as she slowly nodded off, before he did the same. Cassidy's eyes slowly began to grow heavy, before slowly descending closed. Yet, in the small sliver of space that appeared before her eyes closed, she stole one last glance at her novio, who had already begun to sleep peacefully, with his head against her chest, like her teddy bear. Kaitlyn’s eyes slowly began to close, as she pondered what the next day held for her, her friends and cousins. Patrick took one last look around the hospital room, moments before a nurse entered to turn off the lights, watching his friends and cousins slowly enter their dream planets, moments before he entered his own. And before her own eyes felt as though they could stay open no longer, Sissi cast a gaze toward Cassidy and Odd, feelings of warmth filling her entire being, as she, too, drifted onward.


	7. The Big New Room

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hunter Moebius and I don't own Code Lyoko and Kaitlyn Belpois.

The next morning saw Cassidy undergoing a medical examination. Since it had been several weeks since her coma, and her body had healed to the point where she had been allowed to go for walks with her best, close friends, Dr. Porter had decided that the time had come to run tests on her heart, to see how well it had healed, and if any damage had been done. Naturally, the psychic brunette had not been completely without nervousness when she consented to this; had Odd not convinced her that everything would be fine, and accompany her to the testing room, the task would have proven daunting to accomplish.

Back in the hospital room, the other seven friends waited, some with bated breath, others with similar bouts of butterflies, as they awaited the results, and her return. Like Odd and Cassidy, they hoped nothing terrible happened to any of the psychic brunette’s vital organs, and that her “fainting spell,” as they still insisted on calling it around her, had no long-term side-effects. Jeremie spent his time twiddling his fingers—had a rocking chair been available, he would’ve rocked listlessly, instead—while sitting atop his bed, accompanied by Aelita. She knew the turmoil her knight on glasses was putting himself through, and felt similar worry and concern over a girl who was not only one of her best, close friends, but her first roommate, as well. 

Yumi had also found comfort by sitting next to Ulrich on his bed, the Japanese girl also laden with fear and worry over the psychic, which the German-named boy also suffered from, albeit in a slightly smaller capacity. As his recent closeness with Yumi had relaxed his inhibitions to some extent, he felt content to bide his time giving his  _ kanojo _ a soft, gentle back rub, hoping that it would help her relax, while the two waited for any news whatsoever. She was slightly surprised by his forwardness, initially, but this soon departed in favor of appreciative calmness, glad that he felt he could be more open with his feelings toward her.

Sissi sat near the two couples, her arms in her lap, and her legs crossed, alone on her bed. A look of pure worry had painted her features, acting as a window into her soul. Examinations didn’t always worry her, especially those she was given back at Kadic by Yolanda, but when it came to someone who she had quickly developed a bond with, despite terrible initial relations, it quickly became a nightmare in the works. She knew full well the ramifications of heart damage, given the medical problems the various members of her family had had in the past, which increased her fear further. The last thing she wanted was to hear terrible news about Cassidy’s condition.

Patrick and Kaitlyn also happened to be sharing a bed for the time being, both expressing moderate worry about their friend. The vortex and her coma were an incredibly worrying escapade from start to finish; neither one truly knew what to expect anymore, when it came to Cassidy. Even if one of their initial thoughts regarding the psychic brunette was that she was an unpredictable enigma, they still knew she was their friend, and they hers, and wanted nothing terrible to come to her. They only hoped the roller coaster ride would slow down at some point, or even come to anything resembling a complete stop, so they could at least be allowed to straighten themselves out.

Jeremie took a deep breath. “I hope Cassidy will be okay.”

“Don't worry, Jeremie. She's not all alone. She has Odd for company,” Aelita smiled gently. “Cassidy's faced a lot worse, especially with what happened yesterday.”

“Yeah, Einstein,” Ulrich agreed. “She’ll probably be laughing it up because Odd’s distracting her with his jokes.”

“Ulrich’s right, Jeremie,” Yumi added with a nod, her boyfriend’s words soothing her own worries, as well. “There's no reason to be worried. She couldn’t be in better hands.”

Jeremie smiled as their words sank into his mind. Their friend had been through a lot in the past month alone, compared to any other time before. She was a strong girl, like Yumi and his pink-haired angel. Given all of this, the blond genius tried his hardest to reassure himself that everything was going to be just fine, and that Cassidy and Odd would come walking through the door to their hospital room with great news. She couldn’t possibly have heart damage, could she?

As though his internal monologue was a prayer cue, the door to their hospital room flew open, revealing the two members of the group, smiles stretching across their lips. 

“Great news coming from the hospital room, guys!” Odd announced.

Sissi immediately leaped off from her bed in anticipation, an excited expression exploding across her face. “Ooh, what did her tests say?! I’ll bet her heart’s so healthy, they could give her a medal!”

Cassidy giggled. “It's better than that. Something protected my heart from any damage during my fainting spell. I don't understand how it can be, but I love the news.”

“Maybe it was magic,” Odd jested.

She looked at him with a joking smile. “And I'm Twilight Sparkle’s long-lost sister Raven Bubbles.” 

Jeremie raised an eyebrow, drawing blanks within his mind. “Who?”

“Don't worry about it, Einstein. It's a show they watch when they can,” Ulrich reassured.

Cassidy nodded in agreement. “Besides, she’s officially a sister-in-law to one princess and niece-in-law to two.”

“But no one beats our own Princess Aelita,” Odd smiled.

Aelita felt her cheeks flood red. She knew the wildcard enjoyed making her blush, and a giggle nearly escaped between her lips, because of this.

“So how do you explain the fainting spell?” Yumi asked, hiding the truth from her Savior.

Cassidy shrugged. “Hard to say. Could have been from a number of factors, like the heat from Jeremie's room.”

Yumi nodded, her face nearly revealing her inner feelings. While she saved face, she absolutely loathed lying to her friend like that. She was bound to find out one day.

“You’re right, Cat Girl,” Odd grinned, hanging an arm around his novia’s shoulders. “It gets so warm in the dorms at times.”

“Maybe we need to talk with my father about that, Odd and Cassidy, dear,” Sissi agreed.

The psychic brunette nodded, crawling onto her bed and yawning. “Nap time for me…” Her eyes slid shut.

“The tests exhausted her,” Odd explained in a low voice.

“Do you think she remembers what happened?” Jeremie whispered.

He shook his head. “All she remembers is losing her voice, and us trying to find the cause, before she ‘fainted’ and woke up here. The rest is a black hole.”

“That is serious,” Yumi replied in amazement. “But it could be a good thing.”

“Yeah,” Odd replied. “And no nightmares went through her black hole.”

Ulrich raised a hand. “But can't ‘fainting people’ dream?”

“In some cases, yes, Ulrich. ‘Fainting people’ can dream,” Jeremie smiled at the samurai.

Ulrich continued to ponder this confusing fact while Cassidy happily napped. It was a strange, tangled mess from start to finish; the vortex, the coma, the hospital visit… he couldn’t help but wonder when things were going to return to as close to “normal” as they could get; even with their fight against XANA, he had begun to question what exactly qualified as “normal,” but the vortex further distorted this concept.

Two hours had passed, by which time the psychic brunette had awakened, refreshed and hungry, a situation Odd quickly remedied with another call to room service. The nine enjoyed their wonderful lunch, all the while pondering everything that had happened, after Cassidy awoke from her “fainting spell.” Aelita thought about her parents; XANA had tricked her twice before by pretending to be her father, only to cause dissension within her group of best, close friends, or trap her and her first roommate within a simulation bubble on Lyoko. That moment stuck out to her, as it was the first time in what was, then, a very long time that she had actually seen proof that her father was still alive, when he saved her and Cassidy from the Digital Sea, by emerging from the very place her knight in glasses often assumed he was doomed to occupy. After her first roommate’s vortex summoning, her father had returned, with the infinitely incredible addition of her mother in tow, to help her, Jeremie and the others finish the job against XANA. To her, aside from the various things that happened to Cassidy, she was almost on cloud nine. Once XANA had been eliminated, she could go back to her life before the day her mother disappeared, stay at Kadic, and bring her father, her friends, and boyfriend with her.

It was another good hour before everyone had finished eating, after which another big surprise came. A knock was heard from their hospital room door; once it had been opened, Jim was revealed to be standing outside, with Franz and Anthea behind him. All three adults bore excited smiles on their faces.

“Schaeffer, Belpois Clan, Della Robbia, McGuire, Delmas, Stern and Ishiyama! Get packed up, and head out! We're all going back to the Academy!” Jim announced.

As she went to reply, Aelita’s eyebrows rose, the surprise stopping her in her tracks.

_ Aelita…  _ Schaeffer?! Her mind questioned the sounds picked up by her ears.  _ Jim never calls me by anything other than “Aelita Stones!” _

“Uh… Jim? I didn’t know you knew my real last name.”

“We corrected your records,” Jim informed her, then amended, “ _ most _ of them.” He chuckled nervously.

“What do you mean,  _ most _ of her records?” Jeremie’s interest was piqued by Jim’s statement.

Before Jim had a chance to reply, a smile slowly grew on Odd’s face, as the wildcard jumped in. “We’re going back? Does this mean Delmas’ surprise is waiting for us?”

“That's still  _ Mr _ . Delmas to you,” Jim teased.

“Right, right.” Odd let out a slight apprehensive chortle. “But what about the surprise? What did he say he was doing, again?”

“Now, now, Odd. If we were to tell you what it is, that wouldn’t make it a surprise, now, would it?” Franz chuckled.

”Oh, you don’t have to tell me, Mr. Schaeffer,” Odd continued, undeterred. “I’ll bet there’s students all shouting our names!”

The mere thought of Odd’s theory caused Cassidy’s eyes to widen, as she quickly shrank behind Aelita. “I don't think I want that.”

Anthea approached the psychic brunette, soon wrapping her into a warm, comforting hug. “Would you like me to carry you?”

“That’s probably a great idea, Mommy,” Aelita agreed.

Overhearing Anthea and Aelita’s conversation, Jim glanced over at Cassidy, a look of concern crossing his features. “You okay there, Cassidy?”

“What if there  _ is  _ an entire audience out there, waiting to cheer for us?” Her voice rose higher and higher as she spoke. “I'm not ready…”

“But—you've worked with my nephew,” the burly gym teacher interjected, still slightly confused.

“I didn’t like the large crowds!” the psychic brunette clarified. “I don’t know what I would’ve done without Aelita there with me!”

“That makes better sense, but I'm going to level with you, Cadet. Your boyfriend's theory about the students crowding around the gates is ridiculous. I’ll bet you that right now, they're all in class.”

“Really?” Cassidy smiled hopefully, as Anthea knelt down to cradle her.

“That’s right.”

While Cassidy conversed with the burly gym teacher, something the man had said, when he, Franz and Anthea had entered the room, made the geisha lightly curious.

“Excuse me, Jim,” she raised her left index finger, “did you say all of us were going back to the Academy?”

“Did I take courses in Tajik? Yes, you all can return to Kadic,” Jim smiled.

“That’s so great!” Her own face rising, Yumi quickly found Jim’s facial expression to be contagious. “I hope Hiroki is staying out of trouble.”

“He still has a crush on Solovieff. Poor kid ended up sitting next to hers and Diop’s room, worked up. I almost thought he caught the bug you got.” Jim couldn’t help but think of the three months until the day Cassidy unknowingly defied the jaws of death, and all the other crazy events the recollection dredged up. Seeing Hiroki in that state reminded him of the Warriors’ reactions to Mr. Delmas’ interrogation, when the vortex was first discovered.

Cassidy hung onto Anthea. “Poor Hiroki. And without his sister to help him, too.” She wondered what caused Yumi to be somewhat neglectful of her own brother. Was it because of her pretending to be sick? Or did he do it after school was over, sneaking out into the dead of night?

“It was almost like he was waiting for the bathroom to open,” Jim noted, as Odd helped the others get packed up. “I couldn't even give him detention because he looked so fragile.”

Odd covered Cassidy with her shawl, his arms cradling both his film collection and her stuffed animals. “There! In case you feel chilly.”

“Thanks, Odd.” The psychic brunette smiled gratefully.

“Everyone ready?” Jim asked. When everyone nodded their assent, he started to walk out of the room, Anthea and Cassidy on his heels. “Let's move out!”

At this, the others formed a line behind Anthea and Jim, carrying their respective belongings out of their hospital room. The burly gym teacher led Jeremie and the others down the hallway to the reception area, where he finished checking them out. This only took a short amount of time, and soon the twelve were on their way out of the hospital, and down the street, heading back toward Kadic.

Cassidy rested her head on the shoulder of her first roommate's mother. “How did you get to be strong enough to carry me?”

“Where I was, it was either sit in one place and think of your family, or build your strength up a bit, while trying to find a way to escape, my dear,” Anthea answered.

“That makes sense,” she blinked, trace amounts of surprise leaking away from her face. “A children's ‘field guide’ listed the same thing with groundings.”

“Interesting,” Anthea noted, her voice almost matching notes with her daughter’s.

“She finds the most unique books to read,” Sissi smiled, “but her constant favorite is  _ Maximum Ride _ .”

“It's true,” the psychic brunette grinned. “I even got Yumi to enjoy it.”

“Fax forever,” the geisha agreed.

Cassidy giggled. “Me, too.”

A good ten minutes of walking followed, before the twelve finally arrived at the Kadic gates, a combination of confusion, curiosity and excitement collectively brewing inside each of the nine Warriors, at the thought of what could be waiting for them. They knew practically nothing about it, only that Mr. Delmas had been contracting a project of some sort. After a couple weeks of waiting, the thought coming and going to and from their minds, they would finally see the fruits of the principal’s labor.

Striding through the gates, the other eleven following behind him, the burly gym teacher’s eyes came upon someone he wasn’t expecting.

“Hey! Le Duc! What are you doing out here?!” Jim yelled, causing the psychic brunette to tense up in Anthea’s arms.

Emily jumped. “Mr. Delmas canceled the afternoon classes, Jim.”

“Do you take me for an idiot, le Duc?” he demanded.

Before either party could say or do anything, a new voice soared into the airwaves. “Jim!”

Emily and Jim both turned to see Mr. Delmas walk up, a stoic look permeating his features. His appearance almost gave the impression that he had returned to his normal demeanor, given his last appearance with the Lyoko Warriors had been ashen faced. “What's going on here?”

“Oh, I'm glad you're here, Sir. Miss le Duc is trying to pull my toe, telling me you canceled the afternoon classes,” Jim informed him.

_ Pulling your “leg,” Jim. You’d probably be in a lot of pain if it were your toe. _ Cassidy took a deep breath.

“That’s ‘leg,’ Jim. And in any event, Miss le Duc is absolutely correct,” Mr. Delmas nodded.

“It's great to see you again, Mr. Delmas,” Cassidy smiled, looking at him.

“Likewise, Miss McGuire. I trust your health has recovered fully,” Mr. Delmas smiled, undetected from his facial hair.

“It has, I almost feel good enough to rejoin Jeremie and the others in class again.”

“I am very pleased to hear that. I’m sure every one of your teachers will also be quite pleased to have you rejoin their classes; however, that will have to wait, as there is one more article of business we must attend to.”

Odd cocked a brow. “Oh?”

“If you will kindly follow me, I will show you.”

Curious, the group followed the principal, past the administration and science buildings, and toward the dorms.

Once inside the dorm building, Mr. Delmas led the group up two flights of stairs. As they walked down the hallway, Jim quickly left the group, darting toward a door at the end of the hall.

“But, sir? Isn't this the girls’ floor?” Jeremie felt his cheeks heat up, knowing exactly where they were. “B-but, I thought b-boys weren't allowed up here…”

“Now, calm down, Mr. Belpois.” The principal patted the blond genius on the shoulder. “Think of this as a sort of ‘bending,’ if you will, of one of many rules.”

Jeremie shared a confused glance with his rose-haired sweetheart. What exactly was Mr. Delmas planning, and what was he about to show them?

The esteemed principal of the academy cleared his throat, and began to announce in a voice he used when he showed off the new stadium to three of the Lyoko Warriors.

“And now, my dear Belpois… er, Clan, along with the Schaeffer family, Della Robbia, McGuire, Stern, Ishiyama, as well as my daughter, on behalf of the faculty and other students of Kadic Academy, I am very pleased to present to all of you a wonderful addition to our fine school, one that we hope will serve you well in your forthcoming endeavors.”

Cassidy felt butterflies hit her stomach. “What do you mean?” 

“Jim?” 

The burly gym teacher nodded and walked away from whatever he was hiding. “Kids, welcome to your new room.”

The collective eyes of the nine kids suddenly zoomed toward the sign upon the wall next to the door Jim was previously standing in front of, which read “Lyoko HQ.” Their eyes widened at this sight, sharing feelings of wonder, awe and surprise between themselves. And judging by the sign, they could only guess at what the actual room itself looked like.

Franz took the door handle and turned it downward, opening it. “Go on in.”

Aelita obeyed her father, slowly walking through the door he had just opened. As soon as her eyes began to take in everything the room had to offer, a barrage of emotions and feelings immediately struck her, nearly incapacitating her in the process. She was so overcome with surprise, excitement, amazement, and awe, that any attempt to voice her approval of the room she and her friends had been bequeathed fell flat on its metaphorical face.

“It's—”

Yumi looked in, her own curiosity piqued by the elven girl’s reaction, before slowly treading inside, as well. Immediately, she found a similar reason for feelings of amazement and awe, as she surveyed the entire room. While in the middle of her room-spanning gaze, she happened upon a bed eerily similar to her own in one corner, next to a nightstand with a glass china doll encased upon it. Her jaw dropped to the floor, realizing Aelita’s feelings were more contagious than she ever dreamed.

Ulrich was the third to enter, behind his  _ kanojo _ . His eyes scanned the entire room, widening at the sight of everything that was inside, before happening upon a bed, near one that looked incredibly similar to Yumi’s at her house. It had nunchaku, along with three shuriken, nailed to the wall above it, a small, thin shelf of sorts below the shuriken, and his familiar Pencak Silat World Championships poster hung next to the array.

“Wow!” he exclaimed, surprise overtaking his face. “They’ve even got…!” 

“C’mon, Ulrich!” Odd soon stepped inside, his eyes initially staring at his former roommate, “tell us what’s—”

He suddenly came to a stop, as he beheld every object within the room, surprise overtaking his being nearly completely. This was soon followed by a panoramic view, as he turned his head around, taking it all in. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see another bed, between two beds that seemed to belong to two of his female friends; one of which he was sure he could identify, had he not been overcome with awe, but that didn’t prevent him from identifying his own. Odd’s mouth exploded into a gigantic grin, overwhelmed by everything his eyes had beheld.

Outside the room, Jeremie’s curiosity began to grow, as he watched his friends, and sweetheart, admire the new room. It soon piqued, as he walked inside, determined to figure out what it was about it that made them at such a loss for words. Once his eyes scanned its interiors, he found a feeling of awe had overtaken him, as well. It was as if part of the room had been patterned after his own, complete with his own computer setup, the sight of which surprised him even more. Everything had been moved: both of his system units, the monitors, even his desk lamp.

He soon found a bed near the desk that held these objects, which he deemed to be unmistakably his own, for on the wall above it was his Albert Einstein poster, as well as several of his schematics, which had previously hung from a corkboard near his desk, giving him the impression that the entire ensemble had been carefully transferred from the wall in his old room.

“Wow…!” he exclaimed. “It’s unbelievable!”

“What’s unbelievable, cuz?” Patrick’s voice soon echoed through the room, as he and Kaitlyn were the next to enter. The room’s charms soon overtook the two, just as it had the others before them, as they gazed all around. If they thought the factory’s laboratory was like a James Bond film, they had just walked into MI6. The entire arrangement was amazing, with beds arranged along the walls, suggesting that they and the others were going to all sleep in this room, as well as other useful objects. They even managed to pick out their own two beds among the others, identifying them by their sheets and pillows.

Sissi, too, found her curiosity had gotten the better of her, as her legs soon carried her inside the wondrous, new room. Her experience was much like the others before her, complete with jaw-dropping, eye-widening and several copious amounts of surprise welling up within her. This was an incredible secret, and she felt herself so overcome with emotion, almost like Odd had been, that she wasn’t sure what to say, what to do, or even what to think.

Walking around, almost losing control of herself, she quickly found her bed, almost by accident, and plopped herself down upon it. Gazing up into the air, she couldn’t help but notice the wall above her bed bore striking similarities to the one in her room, complete with two filled bookshelves, several familiar posters, and the top part of what looked to her like her makeup mirror. This perplexed her further, as she turned her head to each side, finding a pillow lying up against the wall, next to both her heart-with-arms pillow, and her stuffed moose, Ninin.

On her other side, she saw that, indeed, her makeup mirror had been brought in, along with the table that sat underneath it, and the stool that she normally sat upon. Another desk had also been brought in, upon which sat her stereo sound system, her iMac, and her Walkman minidisc player.

The surprise soon reached a peak, as the principal’s daughter sat upright on the edge of her bed, finally finding the best way to express her surprise.

“Wow…!”

Once everyone else had seen the amazing layout, and features, of their new headquarters, Cassidy finally was carried into the room, in the loving, caring arms of Anthea. Aelita’s mother was initially worried about how the psychic brunette would receive the barrage of feelings that were sure to befall her, just as they had for her eight friends before her, but decided that the suspense might have a worse effect on her, than the sight of the actual room itself.

Inside, Cassidy began to glance around at the room, soon coming to the same revelations as the others had, complete with the facial rearrangements that followed. It was as if someone had read Jeremie’s mind, or at least snuck a glance at the laboratory without their knowing; her eyes immediately found her bed, in between Odd’s and what she assumed was Yumi’s. In a pile on her pillow were her stuffed animals, the same ones she slept with in Jeremie’s room before she lost her voice. She gasped as her eyes next beheld two objects placed near her bed; a nightstand, upon which her vision journals sat meticulously stacked, and a clear tub, which contained balls upon balls of yarn piled atop each other, even reaching over the walls of the tub; and at the top, her knitting needles of various sizes and types rested, as though the yarn she had became their bed. _What did we do?_ _How, how,_ how _did we earn this? What in Dobby’s good name is going on here?!_

In the middle part of the room, two air mattresses sat, slightly messy from being slept in. The reason for their appearance, and who would occupy them was lost on everyone, however, as the fresh, new discovery of the new “Lyoko HQ” was far from wearing off.

“Is—is this heaven?” Kaitlyn and Sissi chorused.

”I don’t know,” Odd chimed in, trying to pull his eyes away from the amazing things that surrounded him in the room, “it sure doesn’t look like heaven; where’s the all-you-can-eat buffet?”

Anthea and Franz chuckled. “Dinner is still at seven in the evening.”

“We tried to keep that consistent at the hospital,” Jeremie admitted. Even though things were not going well, the then-eight tried to keep eating to save their strength for Cassidy's awakening. For a couple of weeks, Odd’s appetite had been at an all-time low, possibly the lowest it had ever been. Under normal conditions, such circumstances would have been caused by him wanting a girl's attention or being sick; however, on that occasion, his fear and concern for Cassidy caused everything else to get pushed to the back burner, while the psychic brunette’s health continued to change, prior to her awakening.

Ulrich nodded his assent.

Cassidy pursed her lips, a brow creasing. “What illnesses did you come up with again?”

Mr. Delmas found Cassidy’s statement to be confusing, yet as he prepared to question this, Franz approached first, gently ruffling the psychic brunette's hair. “It doesn't matter, dear.”

“Right!” Ulrich smiled, raising his arm vertically, revealing the medical wristband that still adorned it. “We’ll always protect you, Cassidy.”

Cassidy’s eyes widened in surprise; this sounded similar to things the samurai had told her in the past. That her friends would always be there for her, no matter what. But what bugged her the most was his choice of words. Ulrich wasn’t always the most descriptive, and occasionally had moments where he couldn’t decide what exactly he wanted to say. She felt a strange feeling deep within her, at the thought that maybe someone was missing, or that she had misheard something. “But who will protect Aelita?”

“We all will, Cassidy,” Yumi smiled, taking her by the hand.

“Besides, we all have most of our stuff here!” Odd grinned.

As though to correct the wildcard, a little yip came from under his bed, catching his attention. “Hm?” Kneeling beside the noisy drawer, Odd slid it open, and out pounced a little gray dog. 

“Kiwi!” He cried happily, laughing as though Cassidy had told him a good joke.

_ Odd! I missed you! _ Kiwi barked, licking his owner's face.

Cassidy smiled.  _ Still reading animal minds: check. People still acting slightly weird around me: check. _

“Do you like it?” Anthea asked, a grin of her own christening her face.

“Oh, yes, Mommy!” Aelita answered at once.

“This is bigger than the rec room,” Sissi observed, sitting on her bed.

“And that's just the start, my dear,” Jean-Pierre commented, extending his hand toward another corner of the room. “Over by Mr. Jeremie's and Mr. Stern’s beds, there's a another door I’m not sure if anyone is aware of. Would you like to see what’s inside?”

Sissi slowly rose to her feet, walking to the door he mentioned. Curiosity piquing, she opened it to reveal another room, slightly smaller than the one she was in, but which was filled with something that immediately caught her eye: one section had been filled with every single outfit she had ever worn, including her party dresses, and the pink shirt and skirt combo she had worn, before she had adopted her current look. Of course, hers weren’t the only outfits within the room; there were a total of nine different sections, including her own, each one labeled with the first initial of its owner. While Jeremie’s, Ulrich’s, Odd’s, and Patrick’s sections had a few garments hanging within them, the sections belonging to Cassidy and Aelita had a few others; even Yumi’s had her full selection of black attire, including the outfit she had worn, before adopting her current appearance. This served to increase the already-gigantic bundle of emotions the principal’s daughter was experiencing, the girl fearing she might burst from the excitement.

“What do you think, Sissi?” he asked her.

At this prompting, Sissi’s emotions finally found a hole through which to escape, as tears began to stream down her face. A gigantic grin plastered across her features, barely indicative of the excitement the girl felt, Sissi whirled around and leapt at her father, nearly knocking Mr. Delmas over in the process, as she wrapped her arms around him.

“It’s so beautiful!!” she exclaimed, squeezing the principal as if he was a giant stress release toy.

“ _ Easy _ , Sissi!” Mr. Delmas tried to reason, his voice straining slightly as he slowly returned his daughter’s excited embrace, soon softly rubbing her back. “You’re hurting my back!”

She let go of him, a sheepish grin overtaking her face, accompanied by a flush of embarrassment welling up within her cheeks. “Sorry, Daddy!”

Mr. Delmas rubbed the front of his orange jacket, straightening it out, as he tried to regain his composure. “Yes, well… that’s quite alright.”

“So where are the other students?” Aelita wondered. “Other than Emily, we haven't seen anyone.” 

“They could be in their rooms, but they will rejoin you at dinner.”

“I hope Hiroki’s alright now,” Yumi worried, turning to leave Lyoko HQ. “I should probably get going. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

As she headed for the door to the new room, a look of surprise crossed her features, as Jim stepped in front of her, stopping her as she reached it.

“Where do you think you’re going, Miss Ishiyama?” he asked, folding his arms.

“I’m sorry, Jim,” Yumi replied politely, with a hint of surprise in her voice. “If I stay any longer, my parents will start to get worried.” 

“But how can that be, Miss Ishiyama, if your parents have just signed you and your brother up to become boarders here?” Mr. Delmas asked.

This time, the surprise enveloped the entire room. Everyone’s eyebrows shot toward their hairlines, their eyes following soon after. It was as if the entire day had just been full of surprises. What was going to happen next? Would the Subdigitals burst out of their new walk-in closet next, playing  _ Break Away _ ?

Yumi spun around to face the principal, the surprise preventing her from formulating a more tactful reply.

“WHAT?!” she exclaimed, not sure whether to be excited, or afraid.

Cassidy could not begin to believe her ears.  _ What am I hearing?! Yumi has always been a day student! _

“Your parents signed you and Mr. Hiroki up on their recommendation,” the principal affirmed. 

Yumi was shocked. Why had her parents done this? Had they seen the vortex, and made the decision based from it? She honestly wasn’t sure what to feel. On one hand, she was finally able to reach the others a lot quicker, should XANA orchestrate an attack; yet, on the minus side, she would no longer have a bedroom to herself, and not see her parents every day, like she was used to. But if her parents were okay with it, and she was surrounded by her best, closest friends, would it really be as bad as all that?

Ulrich's mind raced in a million different directions. Hearing that Yumi was going to be staying at the school, just like himself and the others, was almost like a dream come true, especially if the mattress on the floor, in one corner of the room, was going to be hers. However, concern mounted upon the samurai’s thoughts. Would she be okay with being at Kadic’s dorms, considering the times she did were when Cassidy wanted a sleepover with her over at the Academy? Or would she feel homesick?

In Aelita’s case, she was also quite overjoyed to learn that one of her closest friends was now sharing a room with her, just as she had on rare occasions in the past. In fact, sharing a room with every single one of her best, closest friends, not just Yumi, was nothing short of exciting and incredible. This would be a whole new adventure for all of them, one that she could truthfully say she was looking forward to. But then she remembered the various times she had stayed at Yumi’s house, and all of the Japanese elements; there were very few of those here, besides the fact that her bed, if that was hers in the corner, was low to the ground. How long would it take her to get used to a Western-style ambiance, or would it be too much of a culture-shock to her?

“Your brother is enjoying dorm life with his friend, Johnny Cleary,” Jim said. “But he’s still sitting by Milly Solovieff and Tamiya Diop’s room.”

“I think he’s anxious since they haven’t left,” Cassidy theorized.

“We’ve tried banging on their door, but it’s as though they have their music up too loud,” the burly gym teacher observed.

Before anyone could interject, a small pair of footsteps, plus someone panting, approached the door. “Milly and Tamiya left their room! They’ve left their room!” It was Hiroki, sounding as though he became a mad scientist over the course of a month. “They finally left their room!” 

Yumi leaped into action, kneeling down to his level and giving him a hug. “Are they doing okay, Hiroki?”

“Sis! Glad to see you out of the hospital, but yes! They look as though they’ve been well-fed.”

“I always said that they might have a snack stash in their closet,” Odd said through his breath.

“But how would that sustain them?” Jeremie asked. “Snacks would only give short bursts of energy.”

“Even I eat granola bars, but only because I’m bored,” Cassidy smiled.

“You’ve had some weird eating habits in the past, Miss McGuire,” Mr. Delmas noted.

“I don’t know what got into me, either, to tell you the truth, Sir.” The psychic brunette nestled into the shawl that Mrs. Hertz finished for her, a smile upon her face. 

“Yes, well. I think it’s time for Mr. Morales and myself to make our leave and allow you to get acquainted with your new surroundings,” the principal commented, before turning his attention toward the burly gym teacher, who nodded in agreement. They walked out of the room, shutting the door behind them.

“I can’t believe it. Our very own room,” Jeremie whispered to himself, as Sissi prepared a schedule of who should get dressed in the walk-in closet.

“The principal did it while you were all at the hospital long ago,” Anthea smiled, setting Cassidy on one of the air mattresses.

“That’s very nice of them, at least,” Yumi smiled a little. Maybe being here wouldn’t be too horrible, seeing at the very least that her Savior took care of Odd’s foot odor problem what felt like half a decade ago.

The wildcard nodded, a smile carving his face.

Her brother looked at them. “When you get a chance to catch your breath, Milly and Tamiya want to give you all interviews and take your photos. They want singles, doubles, and groups!”

Cassidy’s jaw dropped to the floor, a squeak leaving her throat. Milly and Tamiya wanted to put them in the  _ Kadic Herrald _ ?! And from the sounds of things, this wouldn’t merely be a small article; this would probably be a magazine’s worth. She wasn’t sure whether to be honored, or deathly nervous, as she was before, during, and after the Subdigitals concert with Aelita.

“I don’t think the aspiring news reporters would like them right now, Cassidy,” Anthea cooed to the psychic brunette, attempting to soothe what she assumed were her worries about Hiroki’s statement. “Right, Hiroki, did I get your name correct?”

“Right, ma’am.” He nodded. “They don’t want to do them right away, but at a time where everyone is back on their two feet.”

Kiwi barked, as though offended.  _ Hey! _

“Sorry, Kiwi. Back on either their two feet  _ or  _ their own four paws.”

Aelita and Yumi stifled giggles. Kiwi was not fooling around this time.

“Does anyone find it strange that Odd’s puppy was not confiscated to live with his sisters?” Cassidy creased a brow, finding herself back to reality by the comforting words of her former first roommate’s mother.

Jeremie shrugged. “Maybe he bent the rules about pets, too.” 

Odd grinned, as he walked over toward Kiwi. “Nah, Kiwi is just special! Aren’t you, my little diggity-dog…?!”

He proceeded to lift the dog into the air, before gently nuzzling his puppy’s face with his own. “Yes you are… oh, yes you are…!”

“Okay, Kiwi’s a hero,” Yumi beamed.

“And heroes don't sleep in factories housing Supercomputers with virtual worlds, nor do they get sent away from the group,” Cassidy nodded in agreement, slightly quoting her novio.

The wildcard turned to face his novia. “You heard right! And, they don’t sleep in dresser drawers, either! My diggity-dog needs a bed worthy of a hero!”

“He's not sleeping in my bed,” Ulrich jested.

“Not in mine, either,” the geisha chuckled.

“He's welcome to sleep in my bed, Odd,” the psychic brunette grinned. “He has done so in the past, like when Yumi and I switched bodies, or when you and Ulrich went to summer camp.”

The mere mention of swapping bodies with Yumi caused her entire being to shiver at the thought, as it reminded her how close she and Yumi came to completely disintegrating at a subatomic level. Thankfully Jeremie was able to put the two of them back into their rightful bodies after a trip to Sector 5, but the fear still lingered within her.

“Best two months of peace in our lives,” Sissi sighed happily.

“I guess it was,” the blond genius frowned in contemplation. “We just didn't want to take any chances with XANA.”

“That's completely understandable, young Jeremie,” Franz nodded. “XANA is still a threat to all mankind, but aside from that tower, he’s been dormant.”

“I’m certain that he's behind on his phone bill,” Odd chortled.

Cassidy laughed. “Odd, you still got it.”

_ It's a wonder how she finds Odd funny, _ Ulrich thought.

“It's an acquired taste, Ulrich,” the psychic brunette teased, not even hiding the fact that she read his mind. “Trust me.”

Ulrich blinked, as his cheeks began to gain a slight tint, Cassidy’s reading of his mind catching him off-guard.

“Hey!” he whirled around to face the psychic brunette, his eyebrows lowering. 

She blushed slightly. “Sorry, Ulrich.”  _ Still reading minds even though I don’t know how I am, check. _

He smiled, approaching the brunette. “It’s okay, Cassidy. Remember what I told you about your predictions while we were in the hospital?”

“That...they are pretty cool?” she looked up at him, a look of surprise flooding her face. 

“Go on…” He patted her shoulder in encouragement.

“And—I shouldn’t...doubt myself?”

He embraced her, much to her stupefaction, a grin plastered upon his features. “That’s it.”

_ Ulrich still being all touchy-feely even though he never did this before, check, _ Cassidy thought to herself. The psychic brunette was glad that Ulrich felt comfortable enough to hug her; however, she found it strange that his hugs seemed to be more frequent than they had in the past, and this also served to unnerve her, slightly. 

“I wonder how the other teachers are handling it,” Jeremie commented to himself.

“‘Handling’ what, Einstein?” Cassidy asked, slowly wrapping her arms around the samurai.

“Mm...nothing, just wondering how they are going to patrol the halls now, seeing how there are four boys and five girls hanging out in the same room,” the blond genius lied. He knew the only one who did dorm patrol late at night was Jim, but as he was a horrible liar, this thought didn’t exactly cross his mind.

She creased a brow. “I’m sure that they’ll handle it just fine. A room like this can’t escape someone’s notice just like that.”

Yumi nodded. “That's true.”

“I don't know…” Kaitlyn broke free from her surprise-filled stupor. “Jim does have a tendency to forget, doesn't he?”

“Plus, he sees us boys walking to Lyoko HQ late at night, he's bound to think—” Patrick didn't want to think about it.

“Or, young man, he will handle this correctly,” Franz cut in, having stepped back to let his daughter and her friends talk to each other. “Jim Morales is very nice, when given the chance.”

Sissi’s jaw dropped. “You knew Jim, Mr. Schaeffer?” 

“Of course, Sissi,” the older programmer smiled.

The surprise she had started to feel, from Franz’s first mention, was suddenly multiplied by this additional fact. The first time she had heard about Franz Hopper was when her father told her about him, when Odd accidentally emailed her a picture of him and Aelita; he had been the science teacher at Kadic before mysteriously disappearing, and was replaced by Mrs. Hertz. Given that she had a very vague idea of how long Jim had worked at the school, the fact that Franz was the science teacher near the beginning of Jim’s tenure came as a great shock. How many other former Kadic teachers did Jim know about? She slowly became more and more curious.

Before long, the excitement and newness of their big room had worn off, and the nine had started to settle into their new headquarters. Jeremie set to work on his computer, fingers blazing across the keyboard, his sweetheart’s father watching his progress. Ulrich practiced his sparring techniques, as in the hospital, he worried about what the medical staff would think if he practiced with Yumi or Sissi. Odd played with Kiwi, taking him out when he had a chance. Patrick got out his Aikido book, reading about the dans in the sport.

Sissi, however, had another idea. Grabbing her supplies from her table, she walked over to where Cassidy sat. “Would you like a nice pedicure? I didn’t get to do so when...well, you know.” She didn’t want to induce a panic attack in her “sister.”

The psychic brunette smiled and nodded. “It would be nice to have nicely colored toes, too.”

Aelita giggled. Her former first roommate had always tried to make time for herself when XANA stayed silent, but as the multi-agent system grew stronger, her free time grew to be less and less, adding to the stress.

The principal’s daughter turned her head toward the pink-haired girl. “If you want, Aelita, sweetie, you can have your fingers and toes done, too.”

Aelita grinned, almost looking excited at the idea. “Sure, Sissi! That’d be great!”

The psychic brunette looked over at her geisha friend. “Yumi? Would you like to?” 

Before the geisha had a chance to answer, Hiroki started laughing at the idea. “My sister? She never gets her nails done!”

Yumi shot her little brother an amused look, before turning in Cassidy’s direction, closing her eyes as she attempted an air of pride and satisfaction. “Sissi, I would love it if you did my nails.”

This caused Hiroki to instantly calm down, surprise overtaking his previous facial expression.

“I’ve done our nails before,” Yumi smirked, feeling she had the upper-hand. 

Cassidy nodded. “I may not have liked the atom-splitting circumstances, but it was nice to have a friend do my nails that day, even if it was with us swapped.”

Yumi’s little brother burst into laughter; he remembered encountering, and heckling, a girl he thought was his sister, and especially her failed attempt at imitating Yumi’s voice. “Oh, yeah! I remember you going to see Ulrich,  _ Yumi! _ ”

Cassidy tensed, clenching her toes. She remembered that day quite well, even if she wasn’t fond of it.

Yumi’s eyes widened as she watched her Savior squirm, before folding her arms, as an idea hit her. Turning her facial expression into an evil grin with one eyebrow raised, the geisha’s attention then turned toward Sissi, once more.

“Hey, Sissi, how would you like to do Hiroki’s nails, too?” Her gaze turned toward her little brother. “I think somebody needs to know what it feels like to be pretty.”

The littlest one’s face paled. “Uh… I just realized that-that Johnny and I have a game to play.” 

Before anyone could block his path, the young boy fled the room, slamming the door behind him. 

Moments later, the door opened once more to reveal Odd entering with Kiwi, shaking his head. “When you gotta go, you gotta go, I guess. What’s the matter with Hiroki? Did someone tell him that Milly’s suddenly not interested in him or something?”

“Yumi tried to rope him into a manicure and pedicure,” Patrick explained, as he and Ulrich chuckled.

The wildcard shrugged with an indifferent scoff, before going to his bed, fishing out his Game Boy and settling into a round of  _ Galactic Battle _ .

Cassidy smiled at her novio as she took off her shoes and socks.  _ Odd still loving video games, check. _

“Thank you, Cassidy, dear,” Sissi smiled appreciatively. “I’m sure I have my foot bath around here somewhere.”

“That would be lovely, Sissi,” the psychic brunette sighed happily. “My feet have done a lot of running over the years.”

“I’d say so. A lot of running will harden your feet after a while.”

Yumi placed a comforting hand on her Savior’s shoulder. “She did a lot of stuff that I would have gone through.”

“Except for saving you from our classmates. I’m still kicking myself for that.” Cassidy sheepishly looked up at her.

“You were afraid of William, that’s all,” Jeremie jumped in, attempting a reassuring tone despite his computer providing a slight distraction, his fingers like pistons on his keyboard.

“Not only that, but you also wanted to be with us ninth-graders,” Odd added with a smile, despite having his attention affixed to his video game.

“Plus I thought there was a mistake with my being in the tenth grade with Yumi.” The psychic brunette's cheeks flooded red. “Last I checked, I had completed the eighth grade, and was happy to go into the ninth, not get shot into Yumi's.”

“You even had a B average,” Ulrich noted, remembering the grade point average she gave during lunch that day. “It was 89%, wasn’t it?”

“89 _.2 _ was my average. You were very close, Ulrich,” she smiled appreciatively as Sissi walked out of the room with the foot bath.

The samurai nodded. “Of course, you also gave me some good advice that day.”

“I didn't mean to sound very confusing at the time.”

He shrugged, a grin gracing his features. “It was good advice, easy!”

Sissi soon returned with the foot bath full of warm water. “Here we are, Cassidy, sweetheart. Let me lay some towels on the floor.”

“That sounds perfect. Less chance of getting the floor wet that way. We don't want to end up getting complaints of leaks,” Cassidy agreed, understandingly.

Kaitlyn looked over at the psychic brunette, raising an eyebrow. “I don’t think we’ll have to worry about leaks, even with as much water as what’s in that thing.”

“Kaitlyn's right, Cassidy. Everything will be okay,” Aelita smiled, as Sissi set up the towels under her former first roommate's feet.

While Sissi prepared a spot for the foot bath, in another corner of the room, Jeremie and Franz were huddled around the former’s computer, finding one subject in particular quite perplexing. 

“XANA’s still dead quiet. It's crazy,” Jeremie noted, voicing his confusion at the prospect.

“You’re right,” Franz agreed, taking a closer look at Jeremie’s computer monitor. “Normally it would have launched another attack by now, but I wonder if special circumstances have given him input he’s not prepared to handle…?”

He then lowered his tone to a dull roar, muttering under his breath. “If so, it is quite strange; I didn’t think such a situation could exist…”

Cassidy’s brows rose, as she overheard Franz and Jeremie’s chatter. While she was also slightly curious about XANA’s sudden silence, the weird tower on the equally-weird Old Desert Replika notwithstanding, two words Lyoko’s programmer uttered in particular stood out in her brain: “special circumstances.” This confused her; she had absolutely no idea what Franz could have meant, yet she feared asking for clarification, on the grounds that the answer she was bound to get would be something only Jeremie or Aelita would understand clearly. Yet, she couldn’t help but hypothesize their meaning. Did something happen while she had “fainted?” Was there some sort of big secret going on?

...or was it simply nothing at all, and she was just overthinking, again?

That quickly became her prevalent thought, which slowly calmed her nerves.  _ It had to be nothing. Maybe those special circumstances are just normal things. He’s probably building another Replika, or trying to make another Kolossus. Whatever it is, maybe it’s nothing out of the ordinary. _

While that seemed to satisfy her to an extent, she still couldn’t help but wonder, yet she knew that she could form as many theories as she wanted to, without ever really knowing for sure. She felt she would wait until the time was right to seek out answers, even if she didn’t immediately know when the opportune time would be.

While she was lost in her thoughts, Yumi noticed the change in her Savior’s demeanor. “You okay, Cassidy?”

This jolted her out of her own little world, her gaze suddenly shooting toward her Japanese friend. “I was just—daydreaming, I guess.”

Aelita creased a brow, immediately catching her former first roommate’s lie, as her phrasing sounded familiar.  _ That was the same thing I said to Jeremie, once. _

“And what was the subject?” she posed, hoping to catch Cassidy in the middle of her flimsy lie, finding herself quite curious about getting to the root of the problem.

“What Odd would do if Ulrich dressed Kiwi in a wedding gown,” she answered, not wanting her roommates to worry. “And so far, my novio’s gone for the shovel.”

Odd looked up from his game, cackling at what he heard. “Fantastic!”

“Beat another level?” she asked.

“No! That was so funny.”

She giggled, as Sissi gently placed her “sister's” feet into the warm water, turning on the foot bath soon after. The psychic brunette smiled, letting the feel of the warm water jets caressing her feet relax her.

“That's what I like to see: a nice, happy smile from my sister,” Sissi nodded approvingly, delighting in her “sister’s” visible relaxation, as she hated to see Cassidy saddened, having an existential crisis, or being close to death.

“I love to see her smile, too,” Anthea agreed. “It reminds me of my own little angel’s warm smile.”

Aelita beamed at her mother’s remark, a light blush flooding her cheeks. The mere reference brought back wonderful memories of a younger version of herself, and her mother, as she grew up. 

“Angel of mine,” Cassidy sang to herself, remembering the concert after Aelita did her set. When the Subdigitals started the song  _ Angel of Mine _ , Jeremie had blushed, looking at his rose-haired sweetheart. The elven warrior immediately noticed that he did, launched herself into him, and kissed his lips. The Einstein of the group did indeed freeze, but thawed out long enough to see her rest her head on his chest. Cassidy didn't say anything about it, preferring to keep it to herself.

“Very much so,” Aelita giggled. 

After the girls had their nails done, the sky had turned into an array of oranges, pinks, blues, and purples.

“Okay, guys, let's wrap it up. It's time for dinner,” Ulrich smiled.

At this, Odd grinned, switching off his Game Boy and setting it aside. “Faaantastic! I’m starving! Too bad we can’t get room service! I miss the hospital, already!”

Cassidy giggled. “I would love to see Rosa. It's been a month since I saw her.” 

The room’s other occupants immediately shot each other uneasy glances, as they hadn’t stopped to consider the lunch lady’s possible reaction to what Cassidy might say to her. However, just as quickly as their fear came on, the eight worried the psychic brunette might become wise to their silent conversations, and fought to hide these feelings behind the facial expressions their faces displayed before Cassidy’s utterance. They only hoped their initial glances weren’t a dead give-away, or that any of the others hadn’t thought about the subject.

The brown-haired girl gently opened the door to their headquarters, stepping out into the hallway. Odd quickly raced out after her, his mind focusing on what he was about to eat. Yumi and Aelita followed behind him, before Patrick, Ulrich, Kaitlyn, Jeremie, and Sissi caught up.

It wasn't long before they reached the cafeteria. Already, avoiding the din, they could make out a familiar face sitting at their usual table. “Hi, William. How's it going?” Odd smiled at him.

“Pretty well! You're all out of the hospital?” he asked.

“Yeah!”

_ Everyone being nice to William, check. That's a better way than just giving him the cold shoulder. _

“We're gonna get some grub. Meet you over there,” the wildcard smiled.

No sooner had they stepped into the line, then the various conversations the other kids were having had ceased in their loudness. Most of Kadic Academy's students turned to look at the nine. Suddenly, Naomi climbed onto a table, announcing in as high a voice as possible, “Hey, look, guys! Our heroes have returned!”

Hearing this, Cassidy’s mind went into overdrive, her nerves soon following suit.  _ Our  _ heroes?! _ Jeremie, what the hell have you done?! _

This was exactly what she had feared, when Odd had mentioned the possibility of her friends generating a huge fan base back at the school. Even though she knew he would enjoy it, and a cursory glance in his direction proved this, she was absolutely terrified that his prediction had come true. This wasn’t what she wanted at all. She only hoped she wouldn’t dissolve into a puddle before she was able to escape her new fans.

“Now, now, N’Guyen! Get off the table before I give you four hours of detention!” Jim roared, trying to get ahold of the situation before it could get worse. Then he announced, “Now, listen up! These nine kids would like some peace and quiet while they eat! They do not have any time for any crowding! Miss McGuire here is still recovering from her ordeal. Too much attention will increase her stress. Now, get back to your meals, before I give you all four hours of detention!”

Naomi got off the table, disappointment crossing her features. “Okay, Jim.”

Cassidy internally let out a sigh of relief. “Thanks, Captain Jim.”

“Don't mention it, Cadet. It's the least I can do,” he smiled gently at her. “And now, to the dinner line, on the double!”

“Sir! Yes, sir!” Odd and Ulrich chorused, grins gracing their features.

The psychic brunette giggled at their silly antics. “You guys…”

“Would you have them any other way?” Jeremie asked, trying to hide his own chuckles. 

“Nope!” she and Sissi chorused.

Just as the two finished their sentence, a once-familiar face came up to Sissi.

“Hey—Sissi!” It was Hervé, still scarred by acne. “Can I sit with you for dinner?”

“Why not? There's always room for one more,” the former snob smiled at him.

His heart gave a leap. “You mean it?!” He smiled at her, hoping desperately that she wouldn't reject him again. However, there was a tingling sensation that she would indeed deny him.

This time, much to his own great shock, Sissi’s grin remained unchanged. “Of course, Hervé! It's great to see you again. Where's Nicholas?” she asked. 

Hervé nearly froze up, in shock. Sissi had never been this nice to him, before. As this was completely unexpected, he had no idea how to even react, much less how to answer her question.

“H-h-h-he’s…” he sputtered, his brain starting to give out on him from the surprise, “...at our… t-t-t-table… over… t-t-there…” 

He clumsily raised an arm, shakily pointing in the direction of a table in the back with only one occupant, a gawking, laughing Nicholas.

“That’s great!” Sissi replied, waving to the strawberry blond, whose eyes widened, and jaw dropped, at her actions. “You should invite him over, too! We can all eat together! The more, the merrier…!” 

She then leaned forward, and gently planted a kiss on the nerd’s forehead, an action he could only see her performing in his wildest dreams. “See you over there, Hervé, sweetie!”

This was all it took to topple the already-unstable nerd. A strange, squeaky noise escaped Hervé’s lips as his legs finally gave out, sending the acne-scarred boy falling to the floor in a lovesick daze. Sissi’s eyes widened, a look of concern overtaking her features, as she witnessed this.

“Ooh…”

“Well, what did you expect? For him to suddenly perform Frank Sinatra?” Odd cracked, as Cassidy fell over onto the floor, laughing like a maniac from what Hervé did.

“She needs water!” Pricilla, a random student, cried out.

“No, she doesn't,” Johnny defended, sitting beside Hiroki. “She is prone to long laughing fits, remember?”

“Yeah, don't overdo it, Blaise!” Jim commanded. “She’ll calm down soon enough.”

Gradually, the bespectacled brunette gathered deep breaths, slowly getting to her hands and knees as her laughing fit waned.

“See? She can cure her own chuckles,” Ulrich smiled at the black-haired girl who, months ago, giggled at Cassidy's expense for an article Odd sent Milly and Tamiya.

“And I better not hear you telling her that she's weird, ya got that, Pricilla?!” Sissi growled, then raised her voice, “Everyone, listen up! Cassidy is a student here at my father's academy! And a month ago, I had learned that mostly all of you—admittedly I'm not innocent, either, but still—thought that she was weird, or made her feel unwelcome. I have never heard such sickening and disgusting things! From now on, she, my ‘sister,’ and my new good buddies are to be treated with poise and rationality, respect and dignity!”

Yumi's brows shot up to the ceiling, her jaw soon falling in the opposite direction. She couldn’t believe what had gotten into Sissi. She knew the vortex had caused an incredible stir within her, resulting in a complete change in her behavior, but to see it taken to this length was stupefying, to say the least. This was nothing like the Sissi she had originally known; rather than directly commanding most of the student body to treat her and her friends better, she would’ve joined them in shaming and mocking them, treating them as though they were lower than dirt. It was moments like this that made her wonder if the vortex hadn’t accidentally shot her, if not her and her friends, into an alternate timeline where they had no enemies, aside from XANA, and everyone at the school wanted to be their friend. She had to admit to herself that she enjoyed this new Sissi, while her skeptical side couldn’t help but worry that, even though it had been over four months since the former snob’s turning over a new leaf, it was only temporary.

Ulrich was flabbergasted, as well. Right before his eyes, Sissi had transformed from the ditzy, snobby, airheaded girl that vainly tried for his affection, into a kind, loving, caring… friend. Normally, the way she acted was a side of her that he, and anyone else, had rarely seen, even if he was the most frequent recipient; now, ever since that moment with the vortex, that side had returned, seemingly permanently, for both him and his best, close friends. He found himself becoming accustomed to this new Sissi, and pleased that she was still on his side, but now as his friend. 

Odd, however, smiled at the principal's daughter. She actually called them a nice name, and something he would call his then-smaller group, to which his Einstein friend had used one time.  _ Juliet, you've just surpassed my expectations. _

Cassidy held onto the metal bar separating them from the tables, worried she would find herself in a similar position that befell Hervé. She couldn't believe what she just heard: Sissi actually stood up for her.  _ Did this just happen? Did she tell them to not bully me anymore? _ The psychic brunette looked at the former snob. The Sissi she originally knew would have smashed her spirit into a million pieces, or tried to demean Aelita, who she thought of as a sister, prompting a swift verbal rant from the psychic brunette. To hear her making good on her promise astounded her.

In the case of the pink-haired warrior, she was pleasantly surprised to see Sissi’s actions. She was initially shocked, but given that she had seen the former snob’s metamorphosis, while she spent time in the hospital with them, this was merely an outward declaration of the sweeping changes she had made to her disposition. This firmly told her that the new Sissi was here to stay, and she was glad that she no longer had to worry about the principal’s daughter being a threat to them any further. An excited grin blossomed upon her face, as she surveyed the girl who had just finished her statement.

Patrick gaped at the principal's daughter. Initially, their first meeting wasn't all sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows, but the vortex had made Sissi’s gentle side emerge like a caterpillar emerging from her cocoon. And to hear that she wanted the student population to change their minds had invited a similar smile to take up residence upon his face.

Meanwhile, the prevalent thought in Kaitlyn’s mind revolved around what had just happened. She had known very little about the principal’s daughter, aside from what her cousin and her best, close friends had told her. But what was this? This wasn’t anything like they had mentioned. This was a completely different girl, as if Sissi had been taking kindness lessons from Aelita! Her emotions were a mixture of surprise and excitement; surprise at her most recent declaration, and excitement over what it all could mean. If this was Sissi now, she hoped that nothing would cause her to revert to her old self. She liked this Sissi much better than the one her best, close friends described. Kaitlyn found herself becoming ecstatic at having the principal’s daughter as a friend.

And in Jeremie’s case, he couldn’t believe what his ears were telling him. Before the vortex, Sissi and him had never exactly been on positive terms. The entire roller coaster ride that was the vortex, the hospital visit, and now the moment he just beheld, was nothing short of overwhelming. Compounding onto this was the fact that Sissi was no longer the snob he once knew, a transformation that could only be explained by the mysterious phenomenon that had landed him and his friends in the hospital, in the first place. He had racked his brain, trying to come up with reason after reason to explain Sissi’s sudden personality change, but continuously came up short. He had absolutely no idea how it could have happened; however, part of him was glad that it had. No longer would he, Aelita, Cassidy, or any of their other best, close friends have to worry about random name calling, terrible jokes, or all-around meanness from Sissi; the girl in question would never have made the declaration she just did, if those variables were still in play. To call the principal’s daughter a friend, something he originally couldn’t see himself doing in an indefinite amount of time before the vortex, was nothing short of amazing to him.

For all that was going on, Jim found himself metaphorically scratching his head. Did something happen to Sissi, while she was in the hospital with Belpois, Stones, McGuire and the others? He wasn't sure how else he could explain it. It was either that, or the vortex had done something to her. After all, four months in a hospital, and then some, with barely anything to do, could’ve caused her to snap, forcing the others to confront her bratty attitude, and make her change. While he could see Stern being the driving force in that situation, he also began to consider how the principal’s daughter was acting, when he brought Belpois and company into the infirmary, after the vortex disappeared. He remembered how she seemed to be stuck in some sort of loop, constantly falling over, sitting back up, and falling over again. He hadn't seen everything the nine had done, but what he had just witnessed was impossible to ignore.

“R-really?” Cassidy squeaked, still in shock, as Hervé slowly got upon his hands and knees.

Sissi smiled, feeling satisfied that her work was finished. “I told you that I would help put an end to this bullying. Why not start with our classmates?”

Her jaw remained hanging by a thread from her mouth.

“I called my father to set all of this up while you were sleeping a couple weeks ago,” she whispered to her “sister.” “Hearing you being bullied boiled my blood so bad it brought a bad taste in my belly.”

_ Try saying that five times fast, _ Ulrich cracked in his mind, causing the psychic brunette to gather her jaw and smile amusedly for a tiny fraction of time.

“Thanks, Sissi,” Jeremie beamed, slightly over his shock and surprise.

Cassidy nodded. “I’m still amazed about this.”

“Believe me, Cassidy, darling,” the former snob commented, gently placing her left hand across the psychic brunette’s shoulders. “This is only the beginning!”

“T-the beginning?” A blush flooded the surprised brown-haired girl’s cheeks.

Sissi nodded. “You’ll see.”

“Sissi, what exactly do you have in mind?” Jeremie asked, trying to hide the slight feelings of worry the principal’s daughter’s proposition was giving him. He knew she had changed radically, but old habits still died hard. 

And the principal’s daughter was quite fluent in seeing right through the blond genius’ semi-translucent shield.

“You shouldn’t be so worried, Jeremie, sweetheart,” the principal’s daughter sent a reassuring gaze in the blond genius’ direction. “If I say anything, then I would give it all away. Let’s just say that there are a couple surprises along the way and that’s all.”

This did nothing to soothe Jeremie’s worries. She was just as vague as she had been, and as much as he tried to convince himself that this new Sissi wasn’t going to pull something the old Sissi would have done, the proof hadn’t yet appeared.

On the other hand, Jim was getting increasingly confused by the principal’s daughter’s radical behavioral change. To him, it seemed as though very little made sense, anymore, thanks in no small part to the vortex.

“Sissi, I demand you tell me what’s been going on, right now!” The burly gym teacher finally voiced his intense confusion.

He earned the former snob’s gaze, next. “Why, Jim! It has come to my attention that I haven’t been the nicest person at this school; anyone can tell you that. But one day it hit me: the reason why I’ve been such a snob.”

She knew the answer to the last part of her monologue, but knew that giving it away would possibly have disastrous effects on Cassidy, so she held her tongue, as she extended her hands toward the Warriors. “Thankfully, my new friends have been very forgiving of me, letting me help them, and I’ve promised them…”

She pointed her hands back at Jim, as she continued, “...and I’ll promise you as well, that I will never act the same way, again. You are looking at the new, improved Sissi Delmas, who respects her friends, and will never treat anyone the same way the old me would have. And my first order of business is to end all bullying toward anyone, especially on my friends’, or my sister’s behalf.”

“That's great, Sissi, but can we eat now?” Odd asked.

Sissi blinked, as she turned her gaze toward the wildcard, adopting a genuine, serene smile soon after. “But of course, Odd, darling! Don’t let little me stop you!”

Wasting no time, the cat boy grabbed a tray and rushed into the line. Quickly working his way down toward the other end, his eyes soon beheld Rosa, in her usual spot behind the counter. “Rosa…!”

“Odd, my boy!” the cafeteria worker exclaimed. “You're still looking as scrawny as usual.”

Odd’s eyes widened, as the smile vanished from his face. “I am not scrawny! I'm svelte!” He spread his arms at his sides out, a new grin overtaking his features.

“So what’ll it be: Meatballs and spaghetti or fish and French Fries?”

“You know me, Rosa, my dear,” he teased.

Aelita brought a hand to her mouth and giggled. “Odd…”

Rosa set three scoops of spaghetti and meatballs upon the tray. “I missed you, Odd!”

“Me too, Rosa,” the wildcard smiled, tears threatening to well up.

As Rosa dished up his food, Cassidy had made her way through the line, and walked up next to Odd. Seeing his novia out of the corners of his eyes, the wildcard immediately snapped out of his reminiscing, all the while trying to stop his teeth from gritting.

Nearby, Jeremie, Aelita, Yumi, Ulrich, Sissi, Kaitlyn, and Patrick shared Odd’s sentiments, the seven grimacing at the thought of what a conversation with Rosa might reveal to her. They had never asked the cafeteria worker to keep Cassidy’s coma under her apron, and feared she was liable to destroy everything they had tried to keep secret, possibly producing the reaction they knew they would get, if they had just told her the truth from the get-go.

“Ah, Cassidy, how are you, my dear?” Rosa smiled at her. “’Heard you ended up in the hospital.”

Cassidy nodded sheepishly. “Just because I wouldn't wake up.”

The seven spectators sighed with relief.

“Well, you're awake and here, so what's your pleasure: Spaghetti and meatballs or fish and French fries?”

“Definitely the spaghetti! I missed that,” she grinned.

The cafeteria worker grinned and put two scoops on her tray, grabbing a hot fudge sundae and placing it on one of the pockets. “It's great to have you back, Cassidy.”

Jeremie smiled. Rosa had avoided shooting Cassidy's fragile ethos into pieces altogether. It was almost as if she automatically assumed it to be a touchy subject, and intentionally stuck to generalized terms. 

Sissi came up to the cafeteria worker. “Great to see you, Rosa. May I have spaghetti, too?”

While the principal’s daughter received her supper, her other friends not far behind, the wildcard and psychic brunette left the dinner line, and made their way to their usual table.

Cassidy sat next to her novio. “She missed us.”

“I’d say she did.” Odd twirled the noodles with his fork, his eyes beholding the hot fudge sundae that Cassidy had. “And ya see? What did I tell you a month ago?”

“It came true, didn't it?” she giggled. “Maybe tomorrow morning, she will give me chocolate chip pancakes.” 

“Yeah! That’ll be a good treat, Cat Girl!” 

Moments later, Sissi began to approach the table, joined by Nicholas and Hervé. As the former snob looked for a place to sit, a frown crossed her features as she realized there might not be enough room for the three of them. After glancing at other nearby tables, an idea came to her mind.

“Hey, Jim?” she called to the burly gym teacher. “Do you think we could put another table on the end of this one?”

In reply, Jim came over to the principal’s daughter, scratching his head as he looked at the other tables. Despite the cafeteria being quite populated at that time of night, there were still a few tables that were unoccupied.

“Uh... sure,” he replied, sounding almost unsure of himself. His gaze then panned over the cafeteria once more, before finding an empty table, conveniently placed across from the one that currently held Cassidy, Odd, and William. Walking around the table, Jim began pulling chairs out, slowly sliding them over by Sissi. Once every chair had been removed from around the table, the burly gym teacher walked around to the other side of the table, and pushed his weight against it, quickly sliding it over into place, next to the existing table, creating a double-length table. Once the two tables were connected, Sissi placed her tray down, unofficially claiming her own spot, before helping Jim slide the chairs from the other table into their new places. After finishing this, Sissi, Hervé and Nicholas took their places at the other end.

“Thanks, Jim!” Sissi replied, giving the burly gym teacher a closed-eye grin.

“Wow!” Cassidy looked at their now-expanded usual table.

William blinked. “Killer! This is a fancy upgrade!”

“You've been playing  _ Galactic Battle  _ again, haven't you?” Odd smiled. “I did the same thing!”

The formerly XANAfied Lyoko Warrior reached across the table with a fist hanging in the air, to which the wildcard pounded it back, as Sissi, Hervé, and Nicholas found spots to be seated. “Right on!”

_ My ex- and my current boyfriends having a great time, check. _ Cassidy giggled a bit, picking up her twirled pieces of spaghetti with her fork and bringing it to her mouth. Sure, that wasn't even on the checklist, but she could make an exception. “You two are great.”

Jeremie and Aelita soon walked up to the table, the trays they carried holding different foods, before noticing another table had been slid next to the one they traditionally sat at; this caused Jeremie’s eyes to widen, and a noticeably less surprised look to overtake Aelita’s features.

“How did this happen?!” Jeremie inquired, curiously.

“Sissi,” Cassidy answered, “but her heart’s in the right place.”

Sissi looked at them sheepishly. “You're not mad at me, are you? It would be difficult to eat if we were sitting like sardines. And I, for one, would hate to agitate Cassidy's claustrophobia.”

“It's okay, Sissi. We were just surprised by all this,” Aelita smiled. “Right, Jeremie?”

The genius furrowed his brows in thought.  _ Of course, she invited Hervé and Nicholas. Even when it was just Kaitlyn and Patrick eating with us, we had to have extra seats to keep them from feeling left behind. _

Hearing his sweetheart’s voice, he quickly snapped out of his thoughts, before slowly grinning and nodding in reply. “Y-yeah…”

“That's great, Einstein,” Odd smiled.

The group of eight was soon joined by the other Warriors, Yumi, Ulrich, Patrick, and Kaitlyn, all bearing trays of their own, their own eyes slightly widening in surprise at Sissi’s creative addition. The shock wore off quickly as the four found places to sit, realizing this arrangement was more convenient, especially with the increase in the number of members in their group.

Hervé still felt as though he was living in a fantasy. Even though he had recovered from his fainting spell earlier, his entire body was still shaking with surprise at Sissi’s complete behavioral makeover.

He slowly turned to his right, as he felt he had been lucky enough to secure a seat next to the principal’s daughter, the heat rising in his cheeks, hoping his larynx wouldn’t give out on him.

“H-hey, S-S-Sissi…?” the acne-scarred nerd spoke, incredibly nervously. “I… want you to k-k-know, t-t-that… I… r… r… r-r-really… m-m-missed… y-y-you.”

Sissi smiled, turning toward the boy. “Even though I had other things on my mind during my stay at the hospital, I missed you and Nicholas, too.”

Hervé blinked, starting to feel faint, once more. He had to be dreaming; he just  _ had _ to be. The Sissi he knew would  _ never _ have said that; at least, not without copious amounts of sarcasm dripping from her words. What had Jeremie and his gang of friends done to her?!

Odd grinned, on the verge of laughter. “Uh-oh…! I think you're overheating his mind.”

“Hervé,” Cassidy tried to soothe him. “She's been through a lot in the past month.”

The acne-scarred boy suddenly cast a look of shock in the psychic brunette’s direction. One _ month?! _ He thought to himself.  _ She and the others have been in the hospital for  _ four _ months! Did they put something in her hospital food?! _

Cassidy’s spoon suddenly fell from her hand, garnering curious and concerned looks from the table’s other occupants as it hit her tray. Hervé’s thoughts echoed throughout her mind, as if she had created them herself. Yet, they didn’t make any sense at all. Where could he have gotten four months from?

Despite only truly knowing Cassidy for a month, Sissi had started to pick up certain cues from the psychic brunette, including when someone’s thoughts had distressed her. She took the fact that her stunned gaze focused on the acne-scarred boy, and turned her attention toward him, a concerned look gracing her features.

“Uh, Hervé?” she asked, calmly, as the boy in question returned her gaze, his face softening in the process, “could I talk to you in private?”

She pointed toward an empty part of the cafeteria, near one of the doors, that was well away from the Warriors, and most importantly, Cassidy. “Over there?”

Without answering, the acne-scarred boy placed his silverware down on the table next to his tray, slid his chair out, at nearly the same time the principal’s daughter did so, and quietly followed her over to the vacant spot.

As the two conversed, Cassidy couldn't help but wonder,  _ Was it true? Were we there longer than a month? _

While lost in her thoughts, the psychic brunette felt a gentle hand come to rest upon her arm. When her eyes followed the arm, she found it led back to Yumi, who was giving her a calm, disarming smile.

“Don’t worry, Cassidy.” Her voice was as calm as her expression. “Hervé was probably still surprised that Sissi’s acting differently. I’m sure he wasn’t angry at you.”

“I hope so,” she nodded, still uneasy on the inside.  _ What are my friends hiding from me? _ “He seemed flabbergasted at what I said to him.”

“I'm sure that it's no big deal,” Aelita smiled. “Just be glad that you're back with us.” 

_ I am glad to be back at Kadic Academy, but now, I feel a little time disoriented. Is it true what Hervé had thought? _


	8. The Truth and Sissi keeps her Word

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hunter Moebius and I don't own Code Lyoko or Kaitlyn Belpois.

The next morning after breakfast found Cassidy sitting on her bed. She hadn’t put herself in this position because of a nightmare from the night before; thankfully, her dreams had all been sweet and pleasant, since awakening from her “fainting spell.” No, on this occasion, something else was nagging at her; something she had gathered from the night prior.

Since the previous night’s trip to the cafeteria, the one thing that dominated her thoughts was something she had read from Hervé Pichon’s brain after Jim had combined their table with one that had no occupants, to make enough room for her friends, and Sissi’s old cohorts. Something wasn't adding up, but to her pleasant surprise, it didn't make her want to do nonsensical math.

She had their gigantic dorm, Lyoko HQ, all to herself that morning; Jeremie, Aelita, and the others had decided to give themselves a tour of Kadic, assuming more than just the dorm building had changed since their extended hospital stay, followed by Franz and Anthea.

It wasn't long before the door opened, and a blue pair of shoes entered the dorm room. “Hi, Jeremie,” she greeted, eyes tracking up. “Anything new around the campus?”

“Not really. Everything is relatively the same,” the blond genius replied, unimpressed, as he sat with her. “Is something the matter? You ended up giving us a bit of a cold shoulder, last night after dinner.”

The psychic brunette gasped. “I'm so sorry about that. Something Hervé thought is making my mind ache.”

“What did his mind tell you?”

“That we were in the hospital longer than one month,” Cassidy answered. “It sounds so ridiculous.”

Jeremie felt his conscience pang, as she spoke those words. He and the others were secretly hoping they could keep what really happened to Cassidy a secret from her, at least until they felt she was ready to receive it, without exploding into a million pieces. They had a few close calls in the cafeteria, but just when they thought they could get away scot-free, Hervé stepped into the picture. Now Jeremie was wondering if it was possible to escape this, or if it truly was time to tell her the truth. He knew it would be hard for him to lie his way out of this, and while he wanted to wait for the others to return, and enlist their help in escaping from the problem yet again, part of him wondered if they should just get it over with, and prepare themselves for whatever fireworks were going to erupt, when Cassidy finally found out that her “fainting spell” was really a coma, the by-product of a vortex her psychic abilities brought on, after she lost her voice, four months ago.

To try to aid in the lie a little while longer, Jeremie managed an uneasy smile. “Yeah, very ridiculous…”

“Sissi looked as though he asked if she had a nose job, and he’s not the first one to ask such a question,” Cassidy chuckled.

The blond genius forced a chortle, finding it harder and harder to keep up his façade. His nerves increasing his internal temperature, he had to resist the urge to pull on his collar. “You’re right…”

She blinked. “Jeremie, are you okay? Do you need to go back to the hospital?”

“N-no.” As he began to stutter, his entire body threatened to burst into flames. “I-I-I’m okay, honest. I was just, uh… surprised Hervé would think Sissi had a nose job after she’d been in the hospital. I thought he… knew why she, uh… went in, in the first place.”

“Jeremie, you look as though XANA somehow found a way to surpass the scanners’ operating system and has now possessed me,” Cassidy observed.

At this point, Jeremie truly started to grasp at straws. “Uh… no! W-what I mean is… how could he possess you? Y-you’ve already fought against him on Lyoko. XANA can’t p-possess you. He can’t, uh… possess any of us.”

“I know that, Jeremie. I may be farsighted, but I'm not blind. Lyoko provides immunity for those scanned and virtualized onto it,” she looked into his bloncket eyes.

While Jeremie fought to keep a calm look on his face, on the inside, he felt as though he was fighting a losing battle, and was now attempting a fight-or-flight response. In addition to feeling warmer than he actually was, his body began to shiver, scaring him into assuming she was going to realize something even crazier was going on.

The exchange continued, with Cassidy continuing to pry, and Jeremie trying frantically to rebuild the walls on his metaphorical sandcastle until something finally began to give.

“Jeremie, what is going on?”

“I-I keep telling you, Cassidy! Nothing is going on! Everything’s just fine! Why don’t you believe me?!”

Cassidy’s eyes widened; had Jeremie just yelled at her?! After his continuous insistence that nothing was wrong, this proved he was lying. “If you don't tell me what is going on, I'll go find someone that will share.”

It was at this point that Jeremie had enough of the lies. “Okay, I’ll tell you the truth.” _I hope I’m not going to regret this in a minute…_ “But I want you to answer one question: When you lost your voice, what was the last possible thing that you can remember?”

“You checking the Super-Scan for activated towers,” she answered. “Why?”

Jeremie closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and prepared himself for her to react as he and the others feared she would. “Right after we checked the Super-Scan, your eyes began to turn an eerie white color, the same as when your psychic abilities would overtake your body.”

“That's not unusual, Einstein. You and the gang all have experienced my powers before,” Cassidy blinked.

Jeremie gulped. “Yes… but this time, our attempts at backhanding your face, which in the past have discontinued your powers’ control over you, had no effect. We made two attempts, and neither were successful.”

Cassidy gasped. Her powers had never claimed full control over her before, much less stopped anyone from forcing her to snap out of them. Whatever it was, it must have been incredibly powerful. “B-but…”

Sensing her nerves revving up, Jeremie placed his hand upon her shoulder. “Don’t worry; we’re sure it won’t happen again.”

Cassidy took a deep breath, trying to trust the blond genius. After all, he had helped her out around Kadic. Additionally, she _was_ getting the truth. She nodded slowly at him to continue.

Jeremie took off his shoes, crossing his legs. “It started out as normal, with the usual earthquake-like tremors that normally accompany your powers taking control of you. However, the tremors continued to get worse, as your body suddenly stood up on its own.”

“My powers did that?!” Cassidy’s body began to quake with fear. “What made that happen?!”

“We don't know, Cassidy. Believe me,” he soothed. “We didn't know what to do.”

The blond genius’ attempts to relax her continued to fail, as the psychic brunette gulped. This was followed by a deep breath, the girl trying her hardest to stop the tears that threatened to fall from her eyes, at the mere thought of the picture Jeremie was reluctantly trying to paint. “What happened next?”

Jeremie took another deep breath as well, a grimace starting to overtake his features. “After you lost control of your body… my dorm room’s walls began to slowly break apart… piece-by-piece...”

“M-my nightmare?” she squeaked. “M-my nightmare c-came true?”

Each of her visible reactions to his retelling sent invisible daggers through his heart, as he found that she was, indeed, taking it just as well as he and the others had expected. The worst part was, he hadn’t even described the vortex to her, yet; if this was how merely telling her the first part made her feel, she was sure to turn into a ticking time bomb, once he mentioned his dorm room’s walls getting completely destroyed.

He lowered his head, giving the impression that he was about to relay the death of one of her family members, his tone taking the idea a step further. “...yes.”

Her constitution was becoming increasingly fragile, as the blond genius continued to weave his tale. All of this had happened outside of her control? How could she have done this?! Her entire body began to shake harder, as she began to whimper. She didn’t want to know what else she had done, but at the same time, her curiosity continued to get the better of her.

“As my dorm room… continued to break apart… you stretched your arms out... and incredible gusts of wind suddenly kicked up... similar to how it feels to be virtualized within a scanner.”

She gritted her teeth, the memory of the Old Desert Replika exploding with her in it still stinging her.

He could nearly feel her pain as he reluctantly continued, despite every fiber of his being screaming at him to stop. “The great gusts… surrounded you.”

Strangely, this caused her whimpering to stop; however, her entire body continued to shake as if she was a first-time tribute in the _Hunger Games._ She couldn’t take this. She had no idea her powers were capable of nearly destroying her friends’ lives, and this was something she almost couldn’t bear.

“Cassidy, we don't have to continue. It still scares us as well.” Jeremie rubbed her shoulder.

“No…” she sobbed.

The blond genius’ eyes widened in misunderstanding. “No… you want me to stop, or no, you want me to keep going?”

“I n-need t-to know…”

Jeremie grimaced. He was aware of her threshold of pain, but to him, this was ridiculous. He wasn’t about to talk her into a tizzy. From the mere look on her face to her body language, something he was horrible at reading, he could tell every inch of her was yelling “stop,” while her words urged him to continue. This was getting crazy, and he felt nearly as scared as she did.

“Cassidy, look at you. I haven’t even told you the worst part yet, and already you’re tensing up,” he argued. “I don’t wanna do this to you. I-I-I can’t do this to you.”

Her breath caught in her throat. “I need to-to know, Einstein! What did Hervé mean?!”

A look of fear overtook Jeremie’s features. Even though he hadn’t wanted to, it seemed as though he had lit the powder keg, and no amount of blowing on, or submerging, the fuse was going to stop the flame from giving off sparks.

“Okay… okay.” Jeremie tried desperately to keep himself calm, but looking at an increasingly unstable Cassidy was detrimental to this endeavor. “After the… gusts of wind surrounded you… the seven of us huddled together… as my room’s walls completely disappeared, one by one… then Aelita… noticed this sort of vortex… appearing under what was left of my floor…”

“Vortex?!” She interrupted, her eyes widening further.

“Yes… it was a sort of vortex, the same one that you had those recurring nightmares about… When Odd saw it, he got this crazy idea… to try and ‘sacrifice’ your green stuffed bunny to it… like it was some sort of almighty god or deity...”

“O-Odd t-tried to d-do what?!” Cassidy shrieked, tears streaming down her face. “T-to my Hippity?!”

This struck her even harder; even though Odd was normally one to make random jokes such as that, the fact that he tried to get rid of one of her stuffed animals she was very protective of—given that one was something her grandmother gave her a couple years before she died—seemed to hurt her more than the thought of what her powers had done to her friends. Even William, her ex-boyfriend, knew how important it was to her when he brought it to her in the hospital. This reminded her that Odd had called it something different, before being quickly silenced by Ulrich, with Yumi calling it her “sacred object,” instead.

Jeremie took another deep breath, as he continued, feeling as though he was digging himself an even deeper hole. “The vortex returned, uh… Hippity, though. But that was enough to… scare Odd senseless…”

Cassidy let out a light sigh of relief, glad that Odd’s attempt to sacrifice her beloved stuffed bunny failed while taking slight solace in what happened to her novio afterward. Still, the whole predicament held a tight, fearful grip on her psyche.

“We got him back to our huddle…” Jeremie continued, the fear in his voice increasing as he reached the next point in his recollection. “But that was when… the winds and… earthquakes… reached a terrifying level and volume… soon destroying the rest of my room.”

 _Why me?!_ Cassidy wanted to rage to the heavens. _Why did you grant me such terrible powers?!_

“The next thing we knew… we were floating in midair, as though we were in Limbo… moments before the entire vortex… engulfed us. The wind immediately stopped… and we were all surrounded by darkness… except each one of us was strangely illuminated.”

Cassidy instantly grimaced, her teeth gritting as her entire body tensed up. She did not like where this was headed in the slightest.

“Cassidy, you should know that it wasn't your fault… We all didn't know what we were in for,” Jeremie's eyes filled with tears.

“B-but I had the nightmare! I did nothing to warn you about it!” Cassidy yelled at him.

“Yes, you did,” he tried to reassure her.

“How?! All I did was say, ‘Oh, guys, I keep having this recurring used-to-be sporadic nightmare, but…’” Her voice shattered, as tears fell from her eyes at a rapid rate. “‘...but...I don't know if it's something you should worry about… Aelita gets nightmares all the time…’”

“B-but…” Jeremie found himself empathically wanting to cry along with her. “You did warn us! You told us everything! We just stubbornly chose not to listen!”

“Y-you're not stupid…” Cassidy shuddered. “I sh-should have r-raised my voice a bit more… Aelita… she's—more open than I am…”

Jeremie began to sniff. “Y-you didn’t do anything wrong, Cassidy… I’m serious! You told us, in no uncertain terms, everything that you could see… Aelita’s nightmares, your nightmares… Franz sacrificing himself to give his residual energy to power my XANA Destruction Program! You did tell us! We just thought we knew better, and ignored you! And we paid for it!”

“T-tell me more…”

While Jeremie took another deep breath, fighting back his tears while preparing to continue, Aelita, Ulrich, Yumi, and the others were making their way down the girls’ floor hallway, having returned from their self-given tour of the school, after coming to the same conclusion as the blond genius did earlier. Leading the pack, Aelita and Ulrich walked up to the door, the latter stopping short as his ears picked up an interesting voice.

“Aelita, hang on,” the German-named boy commented, raising his hand as if he was a spy commander. “Do you hear that?”

The pink-haired girl came to a stop next to Ulrich, her eyes bouncing toward her eyelids as she listened. “It sounds like Jeremie…”

Yumi's eyes widened, realizing that Cassidy didn't go on her own tour of the school. “Guys…I think we might have a problem…”

Ulrich turned to look at his _kanojo_. “What do you mean?”

“Something tells me we’re about to walk right into a minefield, good buddy,” Odd noted, glancing at his best friend.

Curious, Ulrich placed his right ear against the wall near the door, his eyes darting toward his friends as he listened harder. His eyes widened, as he heard the sound of Cassidy crying, and Jeremie’s voice near the breaking point. Running a few things through his mind, his nerves suddenly flared up, as he began to hope the conversation within Lyoko HQ was not what he was connecting the dots to.

“Uh-oh…” he quietly quipped, a slight bit of fear ending up in his voice.

The others immediately looked at each other, exchanging similarly-worried glances. If Cassidy was bawling her eyes out, and Jeremie wasn’t faring much better, it could only mean one thing. They knew their Einstein was a terrible liar, but it didn’t stop them from wondering about how she could have gotten the truth out of him, even though they realized she was taking it exactly as they all expected her to. Their next worry concerned the long-term ramifications of that knowledge.

Back within Lyoko HQ, another deep sigh escaped Jeremie’s lips, the blond genius and psychic brunette blissfully unaware of their audience. “When we… wondered where we were… we heard this soft, feminine… raspy voice… it said ‘the truth… the truth… must be… **REVEALED**!’”

“W-whose voice…?” she cried out, fearfully and tearfully.

Jeremie began to have slight difficulty forcing the words out. “A-At first, w-we didn't know…b-but then I s-saw you…”

Cassidy placed her hands against her mouth in fear, tears continuing to stream down her face.

“B-but… you weren’t… evil…” Jeremie attempted to reassure her, his own voice hitching. “It… said… ‘ **the former lives will be revealed,** ’ and that ‘ **this revelation should show… purpose.** ’”

Behind her shaking hands, Cassidy nodded.

Jeremie took another deep breath. “What followed… was a replay of the events that led up… to the current day. It started with what appeared to be… an alternate timeline… as we saw our lives unfold before us… but without you.”

Cassidy couldn't believe it. All this time, she was a vessel for a monstrous vortex to be unleashed? Was it just biding its time until it happened? And to hear that she didn't exist in the original timeline sent a multitude of shivers down her spine. This was something even she wasn’t able to fully comprehend, and any attempts only served to scare her further.

“It wasn’t until… after we destroyed XANA… and shut down the Supercomputer… that something mysterious took place… as we left the factory… for the last time… and made it back… into my room… a massive Return to the Past suddenly triggered, and the next thing we knew… we saw you, standing in front of… the school’s front gates.”

Cassidy squeaked through her hands upon hearing about the massive Return Trip. Is that how she ended up in their world? Why was there a different timeline, that took place prior to the Return Trip? Could the confusion get any worse?!

“From there… we were shown another recap of our lives, but now with you, Patrick, and Kaitlyn present… Patrick being more present in our lives than the first timeline…”

Jeremie suddenly came to a stop, as he realized what was going to come next. After terrifying her with the story leading up to that point, he felt a massive lump suddenly appear in his throat, as he considered telling her about how the vortex ended with her falling into a coma. To do so would be insanity, and he knew it. He was certain she’d demand he continue the story, but… he just couldn’t.

Outside, the rest of the gang heard the lull in the conversation, as Ulrich turned to look at Aelita, Yumi, Odd, Patrick, Kaitlyn, and Sissi.

“We have to take the risk. One of us must go in and continue the story, no matter how much we hate to do it,” Yumi proclaimed quietly.

Ulrich turned a serious gaze on his best friend. “Odd, you should be the one to go in there. You’re Cassidy’s boyfriend, after all.”

“Odd?!” Sissi softly and heatedly asked.

“Who else, Sissi? Plus you weren't there when she fell into her coma,” Ulrich argued.

“She’s right, though,” Odd cut in. “I’d dance all around the subject—and I would hate to relive that whole thing all over again.”

“Hmm…” Ulrich’s gaze redirected to the carpeted floor, realizing the two might have a point. After some thought, he turned toward Yumi, his gaze turning hopeful. “Yumi… Cassidy’s like a little sister to you. You should tell her.”

“What?! No way! I've seen her cry more times than Aelita has! It's heartbreaking, to say the least.” The geisha folded her arms over her chest.

“Yeah… maybe you’re right.” Ulrich began to pace back and forth, trying to find a more suitable person. His gaze then turned on Patrick.

He raised his hands defensively. “I don't know what she’ll do to me.”

“Don't even look at me, Ulrich,” Kaitlyn said.

The samurai sighed, realizing his options had been nearly exhausted. With desperation in his voice, he turned to the pink-haired girl, his final choice. “Aelita…? Would you like to do the honors?”

Aelita nodded. “Sure, I’ll go talk to her.”

“Thanks for taking one for the team, Princess. May the force be with you.” Odd saluted his “cousin.”

She nodded, keeping her composure. “Thanks, Odd.”

Summing up as much courage as she could muster, while firmly keeping it hidden behind a look of concern, Aelita reached out to open the dorm room door. Completing the task, she found Jeremie and Cassidy looking over in her direction, surprised to see her, yet she noticed Jeremie’s gaze also contained gratitude as if he was glad that she had stepped in to take over. At least, that’s what he hoped she was about to do.

“Aelita…” Jeremie choked out.

The pink-haired princess gave a comforting nod to her knight in glasses, as though relieving him of duty, before turning her attention to her former first roommate, her face reverting to its previous look of concern. “Cassidy, we’ll understand if you get angry with us, but what we’re about to tell you, we kept secret because we were afraid of how you’d react. You see… after we saw the last part of our adventures flash before us… something terrible happened to you.”

Her courage soon began to fail as she, too, found the words didn’t want to leave the tip of her tongue, the closer she got to the pivotal moment. “Cassidy…  you, uh… you fell into a…”

“A coma!” Jeremie randomly blurted out, noticing his girlfriend’s inability to speak the word, herself. “You fell into a coma, Cassidy!”

A look of remorse immediately overtook Aelita’s face. “We’re sorry, Cassidy! We knew you’d feel terrible if we told you… but there wasn’t an easy way around it!”

The color slowly began to drain from Cassidy’s face, as pure, unadulterated disbelief took hold. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing; she had been in a coma? What had happened to her, that would have resulted in such? The vortex couldn't have drained her vitals that much, could it? Not only had her powers completely taken control of her body, but they also didn't even bother to replenish her energy, before leaving her. Her mind spun into an enigma, question after question threatening to give her an immensely painful migraine.

She removed her hands from her mouth, frightened by the revelation. “W-what ha-happened next?”

“Everything disappeared,” Jeremie replied, shamefully, as he and Aelita turned remorseful looks toward the carpeted floor, bowing their heads in guilt. “The next thing we knew… we were back in my room, and it was as though nothing had ever happened.”

“B-but i-it did—” Cassidy squeaked.

“You’re right,” Aelita momentarily raised her head to face her. “And Mr. Delmas and Jim soon rushed in, checking to make sure everyone was okay, but none of us were able to explain what had happened. It was like our tongues were twisted, and we had massive lumps in our throats.”

Cassidy hung her head. She felt absolutely terrible; her coma had led every single one of her friends, as well as her parents, to worry tremendously about her. This weighed heavily on her heart.

“Cassidy, hey!” Jeremie gently took her chin and raised it to be level with his eyes.

“What more happened next…?” the psychic brunette looked into his eyes, doubt eating away at her.

“Since none of us were capable of explaining the recent events to Mr. Delmas,” the blond genius continued, “he invited us to follow him to the infirmary. When we got there… Sissi was already there, and she was repeating some sort of sequence of movements…”

“Oh, Sister, my sister…” Cassidy whimpered, guilt tearing at every fiber of her being.

Outside the dorm room, the others had rested themselves against the wall next to the door, in order to give the impression that there were no other visitors outside if one were to glance through the opening in the door left by Aelita. As Sissi, like the others, listened to the conversation, her eyes began to well up with tears, as a grimace overtook her face. She started to feel terrible about the pain her “sister” felt and felt sorry about any of the actions she went through, right after the vortex’s appearance, near the beginning of Cassidy’s coma.

“It wasn't easy for us to handle, either, Cassidy.” Aelita approached her former first roommate, before kneeling to her level, and placing one hand upon her shoulder. She wanted to hug the girl but feared her emotional state might prompt a terrible backlash if she tried.

To the elven warrior’s immense surprise, and slight relief, the psychic brunette quickly wrapped her arms around her, trembling. “T-tell me more…”

Aelita quickly returned the gesture, grimacing as she closed her eyes, at the thought of continuing the story. She, like Jeremie, feared they were overloading the brunette, and especially feared the backlash that was sure to arise.

“They ended up…” she paused, to take a deep breath of her own, “...sending all of us to the hospital.”

In a flash, a few memories suddenly floated to the top of Cassidy’s brain. One by one, she could see the medical bracelets everyone had worn in her mind’s eye. Her mind then jumped to Ulrich’s comment about their commitment to her, as he raised his arm, to show her his own.

“For the first two months of our hospital stay,” Jeremie added, “your pulse was quite… low.”

Cassidy gasped, her eyes widening as her hands soon found her mouth, once more. Now, what William had said Jim feared finally made sense, even before Yumi scathingly cut him off.

“We were all worried about you, Cassidy,” Aelita tried to show her a smile.

Cassidy’s eyes closed as the brunette took a deep, shuddering breath, attempting to regain control of her emotions. It worked to some extent, but her nerves and guilt continued to eat away at her, nearly undoing her efforts as soon as she reopened her eyes.

“Your parents came to see you, as well,” Aelita continued.

“T-they did?” she squeaked.

Jeremie nodded. “They tried everything they could think of, to get you to wake up: talking to you, telling you your pony collection and your pets were waiting for you at home in Illinois, and even praying for you. But… nothing seemed to work.”

“But one morning,” Aelita finally found the strength to show a genuine smile, “the eight of us awoke to find that your pulse had returned to normal, during the night.”

The psychic brunette blinked, a small weight releasing from her heart. She attempted to force a grin on her facial features. “That’s g-good news…”

“We all thought so, too,” Jeremie agreed, giving a slight sigh of relief. “Even the doctors were pleased to hear of your status change.”

His eyes soon closed, once more, as the next part of the story forced his head forward in a shameful bow, once more. “But the increase in morale didn't last long, as it was another month afterward, without any further changes to your health.”

Her features began to fall. She was surprised that she stayed in her coma, despite everything making it seem as though she was soon to awaken. Did the vortex really siphon that much energy from her?

Both Jeremie’s and Aelita’s eyes widened, as they realized what came next. This was a part that had bugged them, ever since the day it happened. They would have blocked it out if they could, but since Cassidy, against all reason, wanted to hear the entire story from start to finish, there was little they could do to prevent her from hearing it. Their only problem was figuring out if they would be able to say it, without getting emotionally choked up.

“When the…” Aelita started, feeling her breath hitch, “...doctors came in one day... they checked you over… and couldn’t find any… signs of change. Your vital signs had gone back to… normal, but you… stayed asleep.”

Jeremie found himself faring even worse, his breath ragged as his voice began to shake. “So Y-Yumi… t-took Odd… who wo-would stay by y-your side… a-and Ulrich t-to the vending m-machines…”

Aelita tensed up, knowing she had to continue the sentence. “They… overheard the doctors… talking about… about…”

She found she couldn’t continue the sentence any further, as she squeezed her eyes shut, tears seeping between her eyelids. The pain that was attached to the thought of almost losing her former first roommate was still too much for her to bear, especially when compounded on top of the already emotional moment the three were sharing.

In the hall, Ulrich, Yumi, and Odd, who had been closest to the wall, and therefore listening attentively to as much as they could hear the inside conversation, widened their eyes as they heard the chatter come to a stop. They, too, knew how heartbreaking and painful the sequence they were at was, yet they knew that, if Jeremie and Aelita couldn’t bring themselves to continue, one of them had to.

With this in mind, the three glanced at each other, unsure how to progress.

“W-wanna play for it?” Odd asked timidly.

Ulrich shook his head, fighting to keep his composure. “No. One of us should just go in there, and tell Cassidy what’s going on.”

“Well, I’m not it.” The usually vibrant wildcard raised his hands defensively.

Ulrich rested his chin on his fist, trying to decide which of the two should enter the dorm. After a few moments of deliberation, and racking his brain, he turned a hopeful gaze on Yumi.

“Yumi,” he began, attempting the most tactful proposition he could devise at that moment, “I know you said you didn’t like to hear Cassidy cry, but… you’re the only other one of us, besides Odd, who’s the closest to her. And since he doesn’t want to, we really think you should be the one to do it. Please, Yumi?”

The geisha tightly wound her eyes shut, fighting her tears. “Alright.”

“Thanks, Yumi… We owe you one,” the samurai nodded solemnly.

Yumi nodded, before taking a deep breath, and walking over toward the door. This was going to be incredibly hard for her, and she knew it. She only hoped her courage wouldn’t give out as quickly as she feared it might.

“R-room for one more?” she asked as she gently knocked on the door.

The collective eyes of the room’s three occupants zoomed toward the open door, beholding the geisha, whose appearance lifted Jeremie’s and Aelita’s spirits, slightly.

“Ulrich, Odd, and I heard it all,” Yumi began, a concerned look gracing her features before her gaze turned on Cassidy. “The reason why Jeremie and Aelita can’t bring themselves to continue is… the doctors wanted to take you off life support. They thought you weren’t ever going to wake up from your coma.”

Cassidy let out a pained squeak, her hands finding her bed a more comfortable resting place. Could this story get any worse?

Fear overtook the geisha’s features, as she prepared herself to continue the tale. “They wanted… Mr. Delmas to sign a ‘do not resuscitate’ order… they said that, because you were studying here, in France… that he was your legal guardian, as your parents lived in the United States…”

“HOW COULD THEY?!” Cassidy exploded, causing Jeremie, Aelita, and Yumi to flinch in reply.

“We weren’t going to let them, though!” the pink-haired girl quickly jumped in, raising her hand upward, as if she was about to tell the psychic brunette to stay away from her. “And we didn’t.”

It was as if all of the pent up fear, pain, and rage had left Cassidy in an even more terrible state after her explosion, as the psychic brunette soon found it hard to draw breath. Her three friends immediately began to worry, as Jeremie’s eyes quickly found the still-opened door at the other end of the room.

“Odd!” he yelled out, placing one hand by his mouth. “If you and Sissi are out there, you two need to come in here, fast!”

Odd felt even the fibers on his shirt stand on end. No matter what he felt about the incredibly touchy subject everyone was loath to discuss, he couldn’t resist whatever it was that was making Jeremie yell for him. From the tone of his voice, it was definitely urgent; it was the same tone he used whenever XANA was launching an attack. Without a second thought, the wildcard leaped into action, dashing into the room.

Sissi raced in after him, worried for her “sister.” Whatever it was, if it stopped Odd from even trying to think of a workable argument, it had to be of the utmost importance.

“Cassidy’s hyperventilating!” Yumi panicked, wrapping her arms around her Savior. “Do something!”

Odd and Sissi immediately ran over toward the psychic brunette, kneeling down around her. The former snob quickly crawled behind her and began giving her a slow, soothing back massage, using both of her hands to stroke the back of her shirt, while the wildcard embraced her, in a similar manner as Yumi, wrapping the brunette in a warm, comforting cuddle.

Slowly, Cassidy found she could breathe again. “S-sorry…”

“No, no… it’s okay, Cat Girl,” Odd soothed, as Sissi continued her gentle massage. “We know this is too much for you, all at once…”

She nodded.

“But, the good news is that we fought for your honor! Sissi came up with the plans for the barricade, gathering from her experiences, and Patrick drew up the plans,” he grinned. “They called security, but we didn’t let them get anywhere near you! Oh, if you had only been awake to see it!”

“So why was it that Ulrich looked drunk if he had been in the fight?” Cassidy inquired, thinking back to her earliest memory, following the black hole that was her coma.

“Well, uh…” Ulrich entered the room with a blush, his hand caressing the back of his head in embarrassment. “You see, they kinda, uh…”

“They used a filthy tactic, that’s what!” Sissi answered for them. “It made things feel weird and numb for a while. Hmph!”

“Trust me,” Odd added with a sly grin, “she’s got first-hand experience!”

“So did we,” the samurai and Yumi chorused.

“But when it seemed bleak…” Jeremie began. “Against all chances…”

Aelita smiled, starting to feel the weights lift off her chest. “You woke up. It was a relieving sight for all of us.”

This helped soothe Cassidy’s worries, albeit only slightly. Even though she knew, in the back of her mind, that the story would have to have a positive ending, unless she was somehow in another parallel universe, having perished in the one she came from. Still, the entire ordeal was nothing short of overwhelming, and even that barely described it. Her thoughts then turned to her friends. Why did they keep this a secret from her? Why did it take this long for her to get it out of them? Did they think they were protecting her? After what she did to them, it seemed more like they needed protection from her! The guilt within her was a powerful enemy, holding a firm grip on her heart. She knew her friends meant well, but this… she had inadvertently broken rule number one, and she wasn’t even in control of herself when she did. They had kicked Odd out of the group for a similar transgression. Wasn’t that the next logical step for them to do to her? She couldn’t think clearly, but she knew what she had to do.

“I think I’ll take a walk and read for a bit.” She grabbed a thick book off a nightstand and walked out of the room.

Odd blinked, jaw ajar. “Uhh… can’t we talk about this, Cat Girl?”

“I just need time to think, Odd, honey!” Cassidy smiled, adopting an air of sweetness to hide her true intentions. “We can talk about it later.”

Jeremie raised an eyebrow, as a look of confusion spread across his face.

“She’s...taking this well?” Yumi commented, finding Jeremie’s expression contagious as she beheld her friends.

“She didn’t look well at all when I started this whole tale,” the genius shrugged.

“What made you crack?” Ulrich asked menacingly. “We were supposed to keep that under wraps, remember?”

“Don’t ask me! Hervé was the one that made her curious!” he protested, his voice becoming slightly agitated.

“Hervé?!” Sissi interjected, growling as she balled her hands into fists. “Ooh! The nerve of his mind! I have half of one to introduce him to hospital security!”

“If it weren’t for him, we could have kept this a secret a little bit longer,” Yumi clenched a fist.

Patrick walked in, nodding in agreement to her statement. “The cat’s out of the bag, huh, cuz?”

“I’m afraid so,” Jeremie replied, sighing disappointedly as he pushed his glasses up over the bridge of his nose.

A few minutes passed by in silence until a thundering pair of footsteps approached Lyoko HQ. Placing his hands upon the door frame, Jim leaned into the room.

“Belpois Clan, Schaeffer, Delmas, Ishiyama, Stern, and Della Robbia! You should follow your McGuire friend!”

“Huh?” Jeremie turned a confused glance in the burly gym teacher’s direction. “She was just going for a walk to clear her head, Jim.”

“I just saw her racing through the park! She looked like she had to take care of a XANA… whats-a-ma-hoosit.”

The gang exchanged worried looks.

“Huh?” Odd interjected. “But why would she be doing that?”

Suddenly, Yumi’s eyes widened, accompanied by a gasp, as she remembered the book Cassidy picked up. “She could be—! She’s going to virtualize herself onto Lyoko!”

“Let’s head her off!” Jeremie ordered. “Everyone, to the factory!”

No one needed to be told twice. Every single one of them immediately raced out of the door, with Jim quickly stepping out of the way, to avoid getting trampled by the anxious Warriors. They started to wonder why Cassidy seemed to shrug off the story’s ending a bit quicker than they expected. Yumi immediately recognized the book Cassidy carried as none other than Jeremie’s notes, which happened to contain a plethora of commands Jeremie had learned to use on the Supercomputer, including but not limited to, virtualization. With it, the others quickly realized that she could not only set up a delayed self-virtualization to Lyoko for herself but once she got there… they really hoped they were wrong about her next move.

The eleven quickly skated through the sewers, climbing the ladder at the other end with haste, before racing into the factory. Taking the freight elevator down to the laboratory, everyone ran to the chair, as Jeremie’s eyes beheld a wireframe map of the Desert Sector upon the center monitor.

“Oh! Too late…” he moaned in fear, as he quickly leaped into the chair.

“You don’t think she’s gonna…?” Odd fretted, as he looked at the screen.

“There’s only one way to find out, Odd,” Franz worried, as the blond genius put the communicator in his ear.

“Cassidy!!” Jeremie shouted. “Are you out of your mind?!”

_“Ulrich was right about me. I’m a monster to you all!”_

Ulrich’s eyes widened in surprise. He had absolutely no idea where she could have even gotten that from, as he never said anything of that sort to her. Sure, he had made negative comments about her psychic abilities, but never anything of that caliber.

Even Yumi realized this, as she glanced over at her _anata_. The only reason she could figure out was that the after-effects of the truth about her “fainting spell” caused her to blow everything out of proportion, in a fit of depression.

“You’re not a monster, Cassidy,” Jeremie tried to soothe her, making a silent gesture to Aelita, Odd, the samurai, the geisha, and Kaitlyn. “What gave you that idea?”

_“I gave away the pact! I scared the hell out of you guys!”_

Following the others back into the freight elevator, Kaitlyn came to a sudden stop, as she heard Cassidy’s next reply. _Wait a second!_ She thought to herself. _Whenever Cassidy swears, nobody says anything; but whenever I swear, they’re all over me! What gives?!_

“Kaitlyn, there’s no time!” Odd cried, grabbing her arm and shocking her out of her thoughts. “Cat Girl’s gone crazy!”

 _That’s the understatement of the half-decade,_ Ulrich thought to himself. Where did she get the idea that the samurai branded her a monster? He never yelled that at her, just a simple “quiet down.”

“Cassidy, please, stop this,” Anthea attempted to sound soothing. “We know this has been incredibly hard on you, and we really want to help you, but you have to let us help you. What you’re doing isn’t going to solve anything.”

Silence followed. Jeremie grimaced as he watched the arrow representing Cassidy on the wireframe map slide ever closer to the edge of the sector. He only hoped the others could get into the scanners quickly enough so he could send them after her.

 _“We’re ready, Jeremie!”_ Yumi cried out. _“Hurry up!”_

The blond genius mentally sighed, before unleashing his hands upon the keyboard, typing the virtualization commands with incredible speed, determined to get his friends to the Desert Sector, before Cassidy made a move he and the others would deeply regret.

“Transfer, Yumi!” he called out, in sequence. “Transfer, Ulrich! Transfer, Odd!”

The three began to levitate upward and downward in their own scanners. _“Scanner, Yumi! Scanner, Ulrich! Scanner, Odd!”_

As their biometric data was scanned into the Supercomputer, Jeremie quickly keyed in a set of coordinates, near the edge of the sector, where he expected Cassidy to be.

“Virtualization!!”

On the edge of the sector, Cassidy stood. She could hear the wind hissing through her virtual ears, as she fell into deep contemplation. _This is it._ After everything she had been through, every adventure she had been in, every moment, every bit of craziness, every strength, every triumph… it was all coming down to this. She had blown it all wide open, against her will. This was something she simply couldn’t bear to live with. After everything she had done for her friends, and everything they had done for her, she betrayed and hurt them. That was all there was to it. Betrayal, disgrace, deception… it was boiling in her mind that she did those things. She didn’t deserve to be saved and live. She didn’t deserve to be a Lyoko Warrior, after what she had done. They should have kicked her to the curb when they had the chance, but they didn’t.

So now she was going to do it for them.

She slowly closed her eyes, ignoring a second call of “Virtualization!!” throughout the Sector, knowing that it would soon be over. Maybe she would be more of help to XANA after this was all done with.

“CASSIDY!” a chorus of voices cried out from behind her.

Under normal circumstances, such yelling would make her flinch and scream. Instead, she kept her eyes closed. _They came to watch._

Without a second thought, she gave herself a gentle push, as her entire body slowly leaned forward, tipping over the edge. She soon felt herself slowly begin to fall off the platform.

But before she knew it, she came to a stop.

Her eyes flew open as she felt two hands come to rest on her shoulders, followed by a gentle tug on her virtual tail. Looking to her left and right, she found Yumi and Ulrich, both bearing worried gazes, as they looked at her.

In the Lab, Jeremie whistled a sigh of relief. They got to her in time. “Nice job, you guys!” he smiled gently. _I would hate to have to explain it to her parents._

Back on the Desert Sector, Yumi and Ulrich gently helped Cassidy turn away from the edge of the platform before Odd pulled her into a warm, comforting hug.

“You gave me a real scare there, Cat Girl!” he exclaimed, letting loose some of the tension he had built up, at the thought of losing her to the Digital Sea.

“What were you thinking, Cassidy?” Yumi asked, trying to sound gentle, but sounding more as though she was scolding the brunette, out of fear.

Cassidy couldn’t bring herself to speak; she was too shaken up over her attempt at permanent virtualization, that it was all Odd could do to keep her still.

It was while the cat boy cradled his cat girl’s quivering body, that a new voice came to Cassidy’s ears.

“Cassidy, this isn’t the way.” It was none other than Aelita, whose soothing, calming voice hoped to break through to the psychic brunette.

She looked at her. “I-I’m sorry… I—I thought that y-you would b-be better off… I hurt every one of you, all because of my powers! I even let Aelita die!”

“No, Cassidy,” Yumi jumped in, as she and Ulrich approached the psychic brunette from behind. “We would be _worse_ off without you. After everything you’ve done for us, everything you’ve done to help us, how could you ever think we would want you to do this?”

“Yumi’s right,” Ulrich added. “Besides, I’ve never, _ever_ , called you a monster, and I’m sorry if I ever made you think that we didn’t want you around.”

Odd slowly pulled Cassidy back, until she was arm’s length from him, as he looked directly into her virtual eyes. “Cat Girl, we would be a _lot_ worse off, if we didn’t have you around. We’d be lost without you! And, think of how Kiwi would feel about losing you.”

The psychic brunette felt Aelita place her hand on her shoulder. “Cassidy, that wasn’t your fault. There wasn’t anything _anyone_ could do to prevent that. But as you can see, I’m still here, and I’m not angry with you in the slightest. However, I would have been very angry at you, had you let yourself fall into the Digital Sea.”

 _“Aelita’s right, Cassidy.”_ Jeremie’s voice echoed throughout the Sector. “ _Nobody’s angry at you, and nobody blames you for anything. We really don’t want to lose you.”_

 _“Jeremie’s right, young angel.”_ Franz was next to speak over the intercom. “ _You even saved me. We would never want anything terrible, from XANA or otherwise, to happen to you.”_

 _“Honey...you are special. Like my husband, you saved me, too. Otherwise, I would probably be in a much worse situation,”_ Anthea soothed.

 _“Please, Cass. I know we had our difficulties in the past, but you have to understand that we would be in a less-than-perfect place without you,”_ William chimed in.

“ _And what would I do without my sister?”_ Sissi’s voice was next, threatening to break with each word.

 _“Plus, you really helped me with my cuz,”_ Patrick’s voice seemed to carry a smile.

“And Cassidy…” Kaitlyn said.

As though everybody had years in advance to rehearse, they said in unison, _“_ Y _o_ u _a_ r _e_ a _g_ r _e_ a _t_ f _r_ i _e_ n _d_. _”_

That was all it took. Cassidy felt the want to destroy herself break into a trillion tiny pieces, as she felt the warmth of every single one of her friends surround her. It was then that she realized that she had blown everything out of proportion, and made things seem worse than they really were. Nobody, save XANA, wanted to kill her, or bring harm to her; how could they, when they cared about her this immensely? She had so many caring, loving friends that were like a family to her, and a silly, caring boyfriend… and she was seconds away from giving all of that up? How could she have made such a decision? Their hands on her shoulders were living proof that it was a bad decision from the get-go. Would true friends have let her fall, and become one with the Digital Sea?

“I’m so sorry, guys… I don’t know what got into me. Do you…think you can forgive me?” Cassidy asked, scared they wouldn’t.

“What kind of a question is that?” Odd commented, in an attempt to lighten the mood. “Why wouldn’t we forgive you?”

“He’s right,” Yumi added. “We only wanted to help you.”

“Let’s go back,” the psychic brunette smiled, genuinely this time.

 _“I’ll rematerialize you,”_ Jeremie announced.

In no time at all, the six returned to Earth, in two groups of three. After leaving the scanner, Cassidy found every single one of her best, closest, loving, adoring friends waiting for her in the scanner room, mere moments before each one of them banded together to engulf her into a group hug.

She felt Jeremie’s grip slightly tighten around her, as his body trembled. “Cassidy, you're insane! I can’t believe you almost did that! That was a stupid thing to do!” While he was definitely scolding her for her rash decision, she could also detect relief weaved into his voice, as he was glad that the others had stopped her in time.

“I'm sorry, Einstein.” Cassidy trembled in his grip. “But I felt like I was a monster! I didn’t think I could live with what I had done to everyone!”

“Don’t worry, Cassidy; you’re not a monster. It would have been far worse if you had fallen into the Digital Sea.” Jeremie soothed, his fingers slowly rubbing up and down her back.

“Yeah,” Odd jumped in. “We’d be lost if we didn’t have you around, Cat Girl.”

Kaitlyn nodded, her chin rubbing the brunette's hair. “You're a part of our group. Nothing will change that.”

As Yumi’s face bore a reassuring smile, hearing Kaitlyn’s words caused her to flash back to the day, four months ago, when the entire mess started. “We’re Lyoko Warriors, and so are you, Cassidy.”

Ulrich looked the psychic brunette in the eyes. “And you are not a monster, Cassidy. I never said you were, and I don’t ever want you to think you are.”

“I was the true monster, Cass. I hurt you so much, flirting with you under XANA’s control, trying to throw you into the Digital Sea, breaking up with you over something that you never did, and even tearing up those plane tickets,” William lamented.

Cassidy looked at her ex-boyfriend. She knew he was right. No matter what she had done, and how badly she thought of herself, she knew William felt worse. He had been under XANA’s control for several months, at the mercy of the multi-agent system, doing unspeakable things he would never dream of doing. Compared to her powers and the vortex, which was worse?

She spent the next few moments in silent contemplation, locked in an impromptu staring match with her ex-boyfriend, who continued to project his regret-filled gaze into her eyes. They had started to redeem him, and he knew they would redeem her without question, as they had known her longer. He just didn’t want her to feel terrible about what she had almost done, as his transgressions were also done outside of his control.

The silence was soon broken by Sissi, who attempted to brighten everyone’s spirits, in one of the few ways she knew how to.

“I think we should all have our spa day immediately,” Sissi announced.

“Spa day?” Cassidy was perplexed. What was her “sister” talking about? Was it anything like her manicures and pedicures? And what about the boys?

“I promised everyone that when you had woken up from your coma that we’d have a spa day—the morning your pulse rose to normal levels,” the principal's daughter answered, a proud grin on her face. “And I mean everyone in our group.”

“Everyone?!” Odd and Ulrich chorused, confusion overtaking their faces and voices.

“Yes! It seems that you boys are just as stressed out as us girls. Hmph. Some massages will do the trick,” she proclaimed.

Now it was Jeremie’s turn to react in a confused manner, a blush flooding his cheeks. “But how are we going to do that?”

Sissi slipped her hand into her pocket and fished out her new purple cell phone, one she had gotten after hers broke down, and her father—self-titled “Mr. Circuit Breaker” or “Fixer”—accidentally drove a screwdriver through it. “You’ll see, Jeremie, honey. Plus we can all use some time to unwind.”

The others watched, a mixture of slight surprise and confusion spread across their collective features, as Sissi proceeded to dial a number. Moments later, she placed the phone against her ear.

Yumi blinked at the principal's daughter. Was she making good on a promise, or did she have something else in mind?

Cassidy looked at her “sister” as she spoke into her cell phone. The thought of what she had planned worried her slightly, as she had never given herself the time to be pampered all the way, whether by herself, her friends, or anyone else. Sissi doing her nails the previous night, and Aelita helping her with her makeup before the Subdigitals concert, were living proof. So what exactly did the former snob have in mind, and would she even enjoy it well enough to let herself relax? The last time someone invited her to some indulgence, she turned it down out of stupidity, and she received a sore ankle for that.

Odd looked at the girl he nicknamed Juliet, slight disbelief flooding his features. She was going to set up an immediate appointment at a spa, just like that? Could she even do that, and more to the point, could she even _afford_ something like that? He did remember her mentioning her father would pay for it, that day when she made the vow, but would Mr. Delmas really be okay with something like that? And once that was out of the way, what would they have planned for himself? For Ulrich? For Jeremie? What about Franz, Patrick, and William?

Aelita, on the other hand, smiled. The thought of spa treatments pleased her greatly. After the crazy events that spanned the past four months, this was something she felt she would enjoy. It didn’t help that her last trip to a spa was over a year ago, one Cassidy strangely declined, at least the first time around. That having been considered, this trip began to excite her. For all she knew, Sissi could be calling the exact same spa that she and Yumi had visited, so Cassidy would finally get her chance to experience something close to what she and the raven-haired Japanese girl had treated themselves to, on that particular outing. Her mind then began to consider all of the things she could have done to her, basing off from her previous experience.

Moments later, Sissi hung up her cell phone, and slipped it back into her pocket, a proud smile gracing her features. “It's all set up! Our limo will be picking us up at the Academy in three hours.”

This declaration triggered another round of collective eye widening, and jaw dropping, especially once the word “limo” reached everyone’s ears. There was no doubt in anyone’s mind; Sissi really knew how to go all-out.

“I gave us plenty of time to get packed up. We can all go back to our new room and get ready. And you don’t have to worry about packing extra clothes; you’ll be taking them off, anyway, for the massages and body scrubs. They’ve got Vichy showers, too.”

“Sissi, which spa did you call?” Yumi asked.

“Why the same one you and Aelita went to that one time,” she answered. “Sure, the vortex scared me, but I picked up a few things from it.”

Cassidy felt her entire being tense up, once more. There it was again; the vortex. The very thing that nearly drove her to insanity, and was the reason why everyone had gathered at the factory. How could it have helped Sissi? The mere thought drove her up a wall, compounded with the guilt-inducing feelings of having blabbed her and her friends’ secret to the entire world while being completely unable to stop it. The fact that she had no control of her body during that time was of no consequence to her; she had revealed the secret, and that was that. So, why did the principal’s daughter feel the need to remind her of this?

“Let's ease up with those two words, huh, guys? Cassidy looks like a wreck again,” Ulrich warned, beholding the outward expression of Cassidy’s inner turmoil.

Odd nodded, rubbing the psychic brunette’s shoulders while cooing to her. “There, there, Cat Girl. I’m sure she didn’t mean it like that.”

“T-true.” She took a deep breath, feeling her body relax a bit. “Plus, a spa day sounds like a good reward.”

“Plus, we didn't get to celebrate you deactivating that weird tower,” Patrick agreed.

“It was a crazy experience, Patrick,” Cassidy admitted. “Both Aelita’s, and my visits. That’s the first time I’ve ever fainted when Aelita went into a tower.”

“Plus what happened with the Replika ended up significantly outweighing the good,” Jeremie replied.

Yumi raised a hand. “Jeremie's right. We were very shaken up that night.”

“That's right,” Aelita nodded, turning to the elevator shaft.

Silence soon filled the room, as everyone decided to return to the school, to prepare for their spa day. It was a nearly quiet walk from the factory, through the sewers, and back onto the Kadic campus grounds, as everyone’s minds were abuzz with all of the things they’d do at the spa.

After a walk down the girls’ floor hallway, the twelve re-entered their room to find Jim tidying the room. His gaze turned in their direction, and a smile crossed his features, as he watched them enter.

“So did XANA prove to be difficult again?” he asked.

Not wanting to reveal what happened on Lyoko, Jeremie shook his head. “No, not this time!”

“We took care of the tower,” Aelita smiled.

“Cassidy thought she could kill the monsters on her own, but she quickly became outgunned,” Sissi grinned, pulling her suitcase out of the walk-in closet. “It was lucky for her that Odd and the others came to her rescue.”

Odd nodded, grabbing his over-the-shoulder bag he brought with him on the camping trip to the lake. “She thought she would clear the way for us.”

“It was a stupid decision on my part,” Cassidy smirked, aiding their lie. “I wasn’t thinking straight when I went there. A few squadrons of Hornets turned into too many.”

“He called in his air shows, huh?” Jim grinned as he folded his arms. “It's like I tell everyone. You can't go through life like clumsy cows. You have to pay attention.”

“I understand, Jim,” the psychic brunette nodded.

“And Delmas, Della Robbia, what do you think you're doing?” the burly gym teacher asked.

“We’re all going to spend the day at the spa!” Sissi replied happily, a twinkle in her eye, and a slight spring in her voice.

Jim soon found the former snob’s grin to be contagious, as one overtook his face, once more. “Well, that’s great! After everything you all have been through, a good massage will ease your minds and your bodies. My Burmese master once told me something very important about how vital serenity is for staying calm.”

Jim suddenly took a step to the side, leaned forward, and extended his right fist outward, as if getting into a fighting pose. “Especially when you’re facing off against a pack of boars, in the middle of an avalanche!”

Cassidy began to grimace, her mind forming strange ideas concerning Jim’s story. “I don't even wanna _know_ that context.”

“It's okay, McGuire. I'd rather not talk about it,” he soothed. “I'll tell Mr. Delmas what all of you are planning.”

“Thanks, Jim,” Jeremie smiled, packing his laptop into his computer bag.

“Jeremie! What do you think you're doing?!” Sissi demanded. “XANA is resting now! Surely, you can part with your laptop for at least a couple days.”

The blond genius turned a wide-eyed, surprise-filled gaze in the former snob’s direction. “But what if XANA—”

“Jeremie, I’m sure you can forget about XANA for one or two days,” Aelita pleaded softly, a mischievous grin gradually growing on her features. “Otherwise, I might tickle you!”

Odd’s cackles threatened to burst forth from his mouth, once he heard Aelita’s proposal. He tried to hide it behind a toothy, Cheshire cat-style grin, but he couldn’t stop his lips from slowly quivering every few seconds as if the laughs were rattling the iron bars that held them in.

Nearby, Ulrich found it easier to contain his laughter, yet he wasn’t able to stop a similar smile from appearing on his own face. While he knew Odd would be rolling on the floor in laughter, and himself nearly so, if Aelita were to actually make good on her “threat,” he was sure Jeremie would join him.

Jeremie raised an eyebrow, skepticism overtaking his features at Aelita’s reply.

“ _Oh_ , no! Not _that_ again!” Jeremie quipped, adopting a slightly angry but equally fearful tone. “Just because you thought it would be a great idea to wake me up in the hospital by doing that, doesn’t mean you’ll always be able to get away with it!”

Her face reverting to a calm, seductive but uncertain look, Aelita slowly approached her boyfriend, causing him to tense up, at the thought of her possibly giving him a demonstration. However, she had something much different in mind.

“But really, Jeremie,” she began, giving him the impression that she still planned to plead with him, “we really think you should leave your computer here. Otherwise, I might do this…”

Before the blond genius had a chance to react, she slowly leaned forward, her hands cupping the sides of his face as she pulled him into a kiss. Jeremie’s eyes widened, the Einstein of the group feeling his entire body freeze in place, as the utter shock, and the warmth of Aelita’s gesture completely overtook him.

His frozen state prevented him from overhearing two of his best, close friends completely drop their defenses, as laughter poured from their mouths like a waterfall. Aelita’s kiss was unexpected, and it was all that it took to force the giggles out of them. They could clearly tell the elven warrior still had her way with her knight in glasses.

“Yeah, Jeremie, you need to loosen up,” Yumi chimed in, giggling a bit as she packed her robe.

“Plus, cuz, we all need a little relaxation,” Kaitlyn grinned, circling around the frozen genius.

“I’ll get the dolly cart,” Jim suggested jokingly.

“He’s not even Hannibal Lecter!” Patrick attempted to stifle his chuckles as he stuffed his own set of clothes in his backpack.

“The last time Belpois froze like this,” the burly gym teacher grinned, “he was out on the grounds in the same spot until dinner. I almost thought I’d have to carry him to the infirmary.”

Cassidy gulped her own chortles down. “That was genius, Aelita.”

“It’s my pleasure,” Aelita replied with a grin. “Sometimes all Jeremie needs is a little… persuasion.”

It seemed as if Aelita’s words were the key to unlocking the cage Cassidy kept her laughter locked, as the psychic brunette soon doubled over with roaring cackles, just like her boyfriend, and his former roommate, hanging onto her former first roommate's mother for support. This led Aelita to find the brown-haired girl’s laughter quite contagious, and she soon joined in, albeit not with as much force.

“McGuire, Della Robbia, Schaeffer, and Stern! What are you, a buncha clowns?! Stop laughing and get packing,” Jim barked, attempting to command the four to calm down, with little success.

“Oh, let them laugh, Mr. Morales,” Anthea smiled. “After our last mission, it's great to hear them laugh.”

“Hmm?” Jim’s eyes widened, slightly, as curiosity filled his being. Even though he had a vague idea of what they ran into on their missions to Lyoko, he found himself somewhat understanding.

“Plus, they have plenty of time in the world to pack,” Franz said.

He nodded at his associate. “Yeah, maybe you’re right. It shouldn’t take them that long to stop laughing, after all.”

The wildcard slowly drew in a deep breath, coming down from the laughter-induced high that had kept him plastered to the ceiling, moments before.

Ulrich soon followed, his facial features still carrying a smile. “That was great, Aelita!”

“You still got it, Princess!” Odd agreed.

“Oh, it was nothing,” Aelita replied, modestly shuffling her feet as she glanced at the floor beneath her.

A few seconds later, Cassidy began to calm down as well, sharply inhaling before regaining most of her composure. “Jeremie will probably need some massages.”

“And I ran ahead and told them about your scar, Cassidy, sweetheart,” Sissi smiled, finished with her packing.

“Actually, I don't feel any pain there anymore,” the psychic brunette blinked, starting to get herself ready. “When you rubbed my back after Jeremie invited you and Odd into the room, your palm touched it at one point, and it didn't feel like a thousand needles attacking my body. All I felt was the gentle pressure of your hand pushing the back of my shirt against my spine.”

The smile on Sissi’s face increased. “That’s great! That must mean that something we did stopped the pain!”

“Or maybe, Sister, when I deactivated the tower, XANA lost whatever control he had over my scar, so it stopped hurting.”

“That could work,” she nodded. “Can't argue with that logic.”

“Yeah,” Ulrich agreed, getting his suitcase out.

“And remember, Ulrich, dear, pack light.”

Ulrich could feel the muscles in his face contorting his expression into one of anger, before a sudden realization hit him, causing him to relax his face. He realized that the nickname no longer carried the same connotations that it had previously, if her usage of similar nicknames with his friends was any indication, and allowed himself to be calm.

“Right… light…” he nodded, remembering the time he carried it to the factory. Before returning to the past, James Finson had thought about using it to make an alien film. When Ulrich was offered the position of consultant, he remembered the amount of clothing he would need to pack. Compared to that, spending time at a spa, where he would probably spend most of his time wrapped in either a towel or a robe, with barely anything underneath, would be a welcome change.

As Ulrich began searching for what little items he would pack, a few footsteps came to everyone’s ears, followed by the sound of the door opening. It was William, who had already packed for the trip.

“Okay, Dunbar, treat everyone with respect, ya hear?” Jim winked at the rebellious boy.

He nodded respectfully. “Of, course, Jim.”

“I will give Mr. Delmas the message of what you have planned in the meantime,” the gym teacher announced, walking through the doorframe.

“Does the hotel allow pets?” Odd asked. “Kiwi shouldn’t have to stay here, all by himself!”

“I checked it out, Odd,” the former snob grinned, “and they do allow pets.”

“Faaaaaan-tastic!” Odd exclaimed as he reached over to lift his dog off from his bed. “No way am I gonna leave you all alone in our room!”

“Plus, I don't wanna come back to find half our HQ a wreck and my Gucci dress in shambles!” the principal's daughter ascertained.

“Plus with Kiwi being very sensitive to paper, my vision journals are bound to become the victims of a tragic farming accident,” Cassidy noted.

 _Cassidy, your vision journals would have been okay,_ Kiwi thought reassuringly.

Overhearing the dog’s thoughts within her mind, a smile slowly crept onto the psychic brunette’s face. “Thanks, Kiwi.”

Most of the rest of the time spent packing was done in silence, as each Warrior focused on what they felt they’d need to bring. Seeing as her boyfriend was still temporarily stunned by her kiss, Aelita took it upon herself to finish Jeremie’s packing, starting by removing his laptop. The others would pass the frozen Einstein as they worked, the sight of such occasionally garnering anything from a snicker to a full-on chuckle.

And the lack of noise helped; the twelve managed to finish packing their things with only half an hour to spare, and they began to head out of the dormitory building, in pursuit of the main gate, to await their limousine. Anthea followed along at the back, forming the proverbial caboose of their train, with the still-frozen Jeremie gently cradled in her arms, not unlike how she had carried Cassidy when she brought her to Lyoko HQ for the first time.

Odd took a look at the Einstein of the group. “Now how are we going to thaw him out?”

“Cassidy once woke him up with something… I can’t remember what she did…” Ulrich smiled wryly.

Cassidy’s eyes widened, a mischievous grin adorning her features. “Oh, I do. Ready, Ulrich?”

He nodded, cutting to the affirmative. “When you are. And don’t believe anything we say, Princess. This is all pretend.”

Aelita slowly nodded, confusion overtaking her features. “Okay…?”

The psychic brunette took a deep breath, her motivation ingraining itself into her psyche. “Oh, my gosh, Samurai! Can’t you believe it?!”

“I seem to have forgotten, Cassidy. Please, tell me…” Ulrich’s words were stilted, though carrying the same weight.

“Odd just proposed to Aelita! And she said, ‘Yes!’”

This gave Aelita’s cheeks a slight tint of embarrassment, as Odd’s eyes widened. Yumi and Sissi gasped, while Kaitlyn and Patrick found it hard to restrain their laughter.

Suddenly, just as Cassidy had predicted, Jeremie immediately sprang to life, nearly fuming at the prospect of what she and Ulrich had roleplayed.

“She _WHAT?!_ ” the blond genius almost shouted, bolting upward in Anthea’s arms, his face nearly as red as a rose. “ODD!! How _could_ you—?”

In anger, he began to shake violently in the loving cradle in the arms of Aelita’s mother. This soon led to his sentence being cut short, as the blond genius suddenly slipped between them, as if his entire body had suddenly been coated in butter, resulting in his landing upon the grass with a thud.

“Relax, Einstein…” Odd chuckled. “They were just kidding! We know Princess and you are a thing! There’s no need to hide it!”

Aelita felt herself relax at Odd’s words, as the blush slowly faded from her cheeks. She was glad that he had admitted the entire thing was a joke, just as Ulrich had warned her at the beginning. However, a small thought lingered in the back of her mind. Where did this joke come from, and who started it? Why would they think it was funny to pretend she was dating Odd? Everyone knew she only had eyes for Jeremie.

“Technically, I think, Ulrich started it, but only to wake Jeremie up for that student rep election that Odd won,” Cassidy felt her cheeks flood red.

“That’s a relief,” Jeremie slowly stood up, brushing off his pants. “It’s still a terrible joke, and it didn’t get better the second time around!”

“Sorry, Einstein,” the samurai and the psychic brunette chorused.

Jeremie walked up next to the two, a smile soon forming. “Don’t worry, I forgive you. Let’s just let that joke die here, okay?”

“Definitely,” Aelita agreed, a relaxed look gracing her features.

“Besides,” Yumi cut in, grinning, “we all know who you’re really madly in love with.”

“Plus, I don’t want to take her from you, Einstein,” Odd smiled. “She may be my roommate, but she’s my ‘cousin,’ if you remember. My parents may approve of a lot of things, but incest is not one of them. And I would rather not go through with that.”

The others began to react negatively, once Odd finished his sentence; Aelita shivered at the thought, a grimace forming on her face, the latter of which Yumi and Jeremie soon found contagious. Sissi and Patrick found themselves each raising an eyebrow, surprised the wildcard would even say such a thing. Ulrich and William whirled around, astonished sounds passing between their lips, as they each gritted their teeth, Kaitlyn placed her hand against her forehead, closing her eyes as she shook her head, while Cassidy shuddered, making a face. Even the comedian extraordinaire himself gagged at the thought. Franz and Anthea were the least affected but still were disgusted.

However, the feelings of disgust, astonishment, and surprise vanished nearly as quickly as they came on, as they were relieved to know that Odd knew better, at least.

Silence then befell the twelve, leaving them to wait for the arrival of their limousine. To some of them, it felt strange to be riding to a spa, or even anywhere at all, in a limo; for others, especially Sissi, there was no better way to arrive. Others fell into thought about the spa itself; since only Yumi and Aelita had ever been there, the nine, especially Cassidy, wondered what would await them. Odd’s main hope was that he would be treated to an all-you-can-eat buffet at some point. Ulrich was looking forward to some time in the steam room, while Sissi just imagined all the different ways she could get pampered, from a body scrub to a massage, and especially a facial. To her, this couldn’t happen enough, and she was only too overjoyed she could bring her new friends along for the ride. On the other hand, Yumi slowly began to cast a concerned glance in Cassidy’s direction. She knew most spa treatments would require the removal of most, if not all, of one’s clothing, and feared how she would react, especially if she went for a body scrub, massage, or steam bath.

Minutes later, the sound of tires cruising across the pavement that adorned the road outside Kadic Academy sliced through the silence like a hot knife through butter, alerting the twelve that their limo had arrived.

The window on the front slowly descended, and Cassidy’s eyes widened as she beheld the driver’s face. “M-Mr. H-Hayden?!”

“You know the driver?” Jeremie asked her.

“Know him?! He took my picture for that magazine contest that my gut really doesn’t want to revisit only because of the XANA attack,” she answered.

“Oh yeah!” Odd raised his right index finger into the air. “I remember him, too! He was there when the jet—”

His sentence was reduced to a mumble, as he felt Ulrich’s hand clap against his mouth, the samurai glaring at him from his right.

“Cassidy doesn’t wanna relive that, remember?” he warned, lowering his voice. “She always thinks of losing her lunch because of the incident.”

Faintly overhearing Ulrich’s rebuttal, the psychic brunette nodded, her face slightly contorting in fear.

“Hey, Cassidy. Did you get your copy of _Cosmos: Future and Formula_ yet?” Hayden asked her. “They’re selling like hotcakes.”

Swallowing her inner torment, she shook her head, just as Ulrich let go of Odd’s mouth. “I don’t think they ever delivered the magazine.”

“Well, in the backseat, there’s one with the pictures we used for the story,” he grinned.

Cassidy tried to hide a grimace as Hayden proceeded to step out of the driver’s door, before walking around to the back, and opening the back door, allowing everyone to climb in.

Once the psychic brunette had entered the limo, just as she had feared, the issue of _Cosmos: Future and Formula_ that Hayden had mentioned sat in-between two drink holders, as if proudly on display. It immediately drew Odd’s attention, as the wildcard quickly retrieved the magazine, before she could hide it.

“Wow, they really know how to get your good side, Cat Girl,” Odd turned to his novia with a grin, hoping to encourage her.

A nervous smile, one that gave the impression that she had just seen Emily smack her novio once more, had captured Cassidy’s features as she nodded, trying hard to force her muscles to smooth out the proverbial wrinkles, but to no avail.

“Let me see it, Odd,” Ulrich smiled. “I’m sure it’s okay.”

Odd soon passed the magazine to the samurai, and soon, the entire gang had seen it, creating a knot in the psychic brunette’s stomach. She had hoped the whole situation would land where it fell, but it was as if her friends continued to pick it back up, each time. This did not bode well for her emotional well-being in the slightest.

After passing the magazine to Kaitlyn, Sissi noticed a shift in her “sister’s” demeanor. “Are you okay, Cassidy, darling?”

“The magazine’s a constant reminder of what I went through, and I almost died on that one,” Cassidy replied, a combination of sadness and fear in her voice. “I vowed never to miss another Lyoko mission for as long as I lived.”

The former snob found her frown contagious, as she placed a reassuring hand upon the psychic brunette’s shoulder, giving it a soft rub. “Don’t worry, Cassidy, sweetie. You won’t ever have to go on a plane ride ever again; I’m sure XANA won’t try that on you, anymore.”

“He never makes the same type of attack twice,” she nodded, still in the doldrums.

“And we just want to see your pictures. We’re not asking you to do anything else. I promise,” the former snob smiled a bit.

“Besides, Cassidy, that flight suit looks wonderful on you,” Aelita noted.

“Yeah!” Odd agreed. “You look beautiful! And adorable, too!”

“I guess luck of the draw saved Jeremie there,” Yumi smiled, noting that she saw the blond genius in a similar suit to the psychic brunette’s own in the vortex.

“And you even look professional with that helmet on you,” Kaitlyn grinned.

Her friends’ adoring praises soon got to the psychic brunette, overwhelming her greatly as she began to feel faint. Soon she had completely fallen limp against the backseat, much to everyone’s slight surprise.

“Oops,” Patrick muttered. “We laid on too much praise on her again.”

“Poor girl,” the blonde female bemoaned.

“We better get rid of it,” Yumi suggested.

“Good idea,” Odd agreed with a nod, as he took it out of Franz’s hands, found a drawer underneath a console in front of the chair he and the others were sitting in, and promptly hid it in the drawer.

An hour had passed as Hayden drove the limo down the road, the twelve passengers alternating between silence, and random conversations. It was during one of these quiet spots that the psychic brunette’s eyes slowly reopened.

“Welcome back to our world,” Aelita softly smiled.

“Thanks,” she muttered. “Ugh… Why can't I even take praise like my novio does?”

“You make that sound like that’s a good thing,” Ulrich quipped, snickering.

Instead of raising her spirits, as he had intended, Ulrich’s joke instead caused Cassidy’s face to fall, the psychic brunette feeling more discouraged than she had been. Noticing her facial expression, the samurai’s turned apologetic.

“I’m sorry, Cassidy,” he placed his hand upon her shoulder, trying to undo whatever emotional damage he had inadvertently caused. “What I mean is, maybe it’s an… acquired taste. It just takes some time. We can’t all be like Odd the Magnificent, over there.”

“Yeah,” Odd agreed. “Even Ulrich the grizzly bear over here knows that it takes time before you can become as humble as I am.”

“‘Humble,’ my friend? Doesn't impress the Kolossus,” Ulrich cracked.

“That was one monster I didn't think XANA would be able to create,” Franz noted.

“I had visions of that one early into the war on XANA,” Cassidy remarked uneasily, the mere thought of the creature manifesting itself in the form of redness on her cheeks.

Sissi took a deep breath. “But let’s put all that behind us for right now, okay? You can’t relax if all you can think about is XANA.”

“Sissi’s right,” Ulrich agreed. “We've been stressed out, and aside from being in the hospital, we haven't had a day to relax.”

He turned his gaze toward Cassidy. “And I wanna make up for the way I acted about your psychic powers. They’re incredible. They’ve saved us so many times. Forget everything else I’ve ever said about them that was bad. They’re not bad. Without them, I don’t know where we would be, right now.”

The psychic brunette took a deep breath, listing, “Something tells me you’d be still trying to pluck up the courage to tell Yumi how you really feel about her, but fail sometimes. Odd would still be searching for true love, but Kiwi would be sent to live with his sisters. William's treatment would be a little better, but clouded by his own self-doubt—”

“Cassidy! You're doing the _exact opposite_ of relaxing,” Kaitlyn interrupted. “Trust me. Take a deep breath.”

Slowly, Cassidy inhaled a lungful of air, holding it for a few seconds before exhaling longer than she did with the intake. “Sorry…”

She felt the geisha wrap an arm around her shoulder. “Hey… don’t worry. We’ll make sure you have a good time. We’ll all be there with you.”

“True. You're right, Yumi. I was being a little ridiculous,” she giggled.

Aelita chuckled in return, hiding it behind her hand. “Just a little.”

“Yeah, but hey, I'm glad you all told me the truth. It's overwhelming, to be honest, but relieving to hear,” the psychic brunette smiled.

Jeremie leaned back in his seat, letting an exhale of stress fly up toward the roof of the car. “That’s a relief. We were afraid you were gonna get mad at us, for not telling you the truth, right away.”

“I just hope that if it does happen again that we all are truthful with me from now on. I'm not mad at you for doing that, considering my state of mind back then, but you can be honest with me,” she nodded.

The blond genius smiled. “I promise. The next time something like that happens, we’ll tell you about it, no matter what your reaction.”

“No doubt about it, Cassidy,” Ulrich agreed.

Yumi nodded, finding the others’ smiles contagious. “You can count on us.”

“And if you do get the way you did with Lyoko, Cat Girl, then we will be there to make sure you don't do that.” Odd balled a fist of confidence.

William raised a hand and ruffled Cassidy's hair. “Yeah!”

“Ditto,” Sissi smiled.

A wide grin blossomed across Cassidy’s face, threatening to separate her upper and lower jaws, as she listened to her friends’ pleas of reassurance. With it, they brought an incredible feeling of trust, love, and care. She didn’t need any further reminders that her friends were real friends, and there for her, no matter what. Compounded onto this was the fact that they knew the converse was true, as well. She couldn’t wish for better friends than the ones she had.

“And I—I'm sorry for my attempt on my own life, guys,” she added, her smile faltering into a slight frown. “I was stupid.”

“You weren't stupid at all,” Kaitlyn reassured. “You were just overloaded with so much confusion, anger, depression, and fear, that you didn’t know what to do or think.”

Patrick nodded. “Yeah, Cassidy. You have a brand-new start now.”

Aelita placed her hand upon the psychic brunette’s shoulder while adopting a serious look.

“I know how you feel, though, Cassidy,” she lamented. “Back when you and Jeremie found out that XANA had taken my memories, after what I had heard about my father, I wanted to just end everything, even though I was linked, by turning off the Supercomputer.”

Franz raised his eyebrows, as he turned toward his daughter. “What’s this, my angel? I wish I had known you had tried this.”

Anthea joined her husband, with a slight feeling of worry in her own being, a gasp escaping her mouth. “Yes, how come you never told us you did this?”

The younger pink-haired girl felt her cheeks flood red. “It… uh… I… wasn’t thinking straight. After I had found out that you were my father, and that I was human, I… thought you had taken my life away from me.”

“I see…” Franz began before his voice became soothing. “Don’t worry, my sweet. I understand. Those were different circumstances, then… at least I hope you no longer feel that way.”

“No,” Aelita replied, the blush fading from her cheeks, as a smile slowly appeared. “Not anymore. I’m just glad I have the both of you back, again.”

“Aw…” Cassidy and Sissi chorused as though they saw a cute and tinier-than-Kiwi puppy in someone’s coat in winter.

Franz couldn’t help but let out a soft chuckle in reply, his eyebrows returning to their usual position upon his face.

Anthea grinned, as well. “And we’re glad to be back with you as well, our little angel. And please don’t be afraid to tell us these things. I promise you, we won’t take them nearly as badly as you think we will.”

“Thank you, Mommy,” Aelita nodded.

Anthea then turned her attention toward the psychic brunette, her calming, peaceful smile not moving from its position. “And I’m relieved that you no longer feel like doing that, either, Cassidy.”

“Believe me, Mrs. Schaeffer, I don’t feel like doing that again, now that I remember that my last trip to the Digital Sea, almost resulted in your husband…um…” Her words died in her mind. She didn’t want to continue.

“What she means, Mrs. Schaeffer,” Jeremie attempted to rescue Cassidy’s aborted sentence, “is your husband… got sent back into the Digital Sea, a bit sooner than he wanted to.”

The brows of the elven warrior’s mother shot towards the roof of the limousine. “What happened?”

“It’s um… a bit of a long story, and I failed it in some respects,” the psychic brunette commented, nervously. _Thanks for smashing into things, Jeremie._

“You’re acting like it’s some sort of test, Cat Girl,” Odd quipped, grinning at her.

“Besides,” Ulrich jumped in. “Let’s not worry about it anymore, huh? Everybody’s right here with us.”

“True, I can raise a toast to that,” Cassidy smiled.

As the others chatted amongst themselves, William lazily looked out the window at all the passing vehicles. As the limo stopped at a red light, he happened to glance over at one of the cars in an adjacent lane. Looking through the windshield and driver’s side windows, his eyes widened as he recognized its driver and passenger. “Hey, that’s my mother and father!”

As the eleven checked for themselves, they found that William was right; it was Lily and James Dunbar who had stopped next to them.

“Wow…” Patrick smiled. “So that’s where you got your handsome looks from, huh, William?”

“Yeah! They came in earlier while you all were at the hospital,” William nodded. “They weren’t happy that I changed sides, but they knew that I wasn’t in complete control of myself.”

“At least they’re understanding,” Ulrich commented. “That clone Einstein made of you acted nothing like you.”

“If anything, that clone was dumber than a sack of rocks and bricks,” Sissi said.

“I still remember that time the clone tried to define a math test and a piece of cake,” Cassidy cackled. While the physical appearance of the clone made her uncomfortable at times, she merely had to remind herself that it was only William in name and likeness; it shared none of his personality traits or quirks.

Yumi couldn’t resist laughing at that one, either. “You’re right. I thought he’d ace that test because he was a computer program.”

“And what surprised me is that he scored perfectly on that test, even though he had absolutely no idea he was even taking a math test,” Jeremie chuckled, “let alone know what one was…!”

Even though they hadn’t ever seen Jeremie’s William clone, Franz and Anthea couldn’t help but chortle at the blond genius’ recollection. In Franz’s case, it made him wonder how a polymorphic clone of that nature could turn out so horribly, especially given how well he knew Jeremie’s programming skills. For all he knew, the tower that controlled the clone probably had the wrong data.

“And don’t forget that time in gym class,” Odd added, laughing.

“He stood as stiff as a board,” the blond genius smiled.

“I still say I should have taken Yumi’s spot,” Cassidy insisted. “But Samurai told me that he was okay with her saying what she did. I would have gladly taken those bikers on.”

“And yet, you got fused with my Kiwi.” The wildcard rubbed her shoulder.

“Ugh, and it was a mess! William suddenly knew my nickname,” she shuddered.

“That was out of my control,” William apologized. “XANA was telling me to say that, as a way to trick you. I couldn’t stop myself.”

“And it worked, Ex-y. When you called me Cat Girl, neither Kiwi nor I knew how to react. You scared me so badly, when I came out of the scanner, once Jeremie was able to separate Kiwi’s and my DNA, I fell unconscious in the scanner room. I couldn’t even sleep very well, that night! I even had a panic attack, thanks to you!”

Aelita nodded in agreement, attempting to sound soothing. “It was a rough night for me, too, William.”

“Hey, I said I was sorry!” William raised his hands, defensively, as a worried look overtook his features. “If I could’ve taken back control from XANA, I would have! It’s not like I wanted to do any of the things he made me do!”

“I understand, William, but sometimes that—and the kiss in the elevator,” the psychic brunette shuddered, “—makes me tremble.”

The formerly XANAfied Lyoko Warrior’s eyes widened. “XANA did _what?!_ ”

“He made you kiss her in the elevator,” Yumi informed him. “She fainted after what you did.”

His worried expression slowly morphed into a grimace, before turning into a look of pure anger, accompanied by his hands balling into fists. “Oh, when I get my hands on that XANA… I’m gonna…! I’m gonna…! He’s gonna think _twice_ before he tries to possess _me_ again!”

“It traumatized me even if I wasn’t speaking English at the time,” Cassidy added, shivers going up and down her spine.

“Everybody, let’s relax! We’re not going to get anywhere if we worry about what that virus did,” Sissi protested. “We’re having a spa day, after all.”

“Sissi’s right,” Yumi agreed, giving Cassidy and William a calming, disarming smile. “Don’t think about XANA right now. Just think about the good times we’ll have in the spa, okay?”

“Sorry about that, Sister.” The psychic girl looked at the former snob with a sheepish frown.

William merely closed his eyes and bowed his head. All he could feel was a combination of shame, anger, and regret, over everything Cassidy had just told him. All of the things he had done under XANA’s control, when the A.I. was primarily taking his body for an incredibly long, pain-filled joyride, began to weigh him down, as if he was trying to lift weights that were ten times his own. All Cassidy managed to do was increase the pain. He wanted to find a way to make it up to her, but in his regret-filled haze, nothing came to mind.

“It’s okay, Cassidy, honey. You’ve been through a lot in the past,” the principal’s daughter smiled at her. “I hear they do superb massages.”

Cassidy smiled at that thought. After everything she had been through over the past few months, a good, long massage sounded incredibly appealing to her.

“I planned this out for all of us,” Sissi continued. “Plus, I made a promise, and I’ll make good on that one.”

“Thanks, Sissi,” Jeremie smiled.

Everyone nodded their assent, grins plastered on their faces. “Yeah, thanks, Sissi.”

“Don’t worry about it!” the former snob grinned. “It’s the least I can do for how I’ve treated you all in the past. Just think of it as a personal favor for each of you, and that’s that.”

“That sounds even more fantastic,” Odd smiled.

Ulrich nodded. “Better believe it.”

Yumi blinked. The last time she had heard her _anata_ say that, was the day Sissi’s Icelandic pen pal, Brynja, came to Kadic and caused quite the stir. She remembered walking over by Ulrich, just as he had spoken those words, and the reaction from Odd, Cassidy, Jeremie, and Aelita, when she asked what was being talked about. It was something about dying for someone, that much she could remember; Ulrich might have said something out of fear, but she knew his real opinion on that subject, as the feeling was mutual, even if neither of them would admit to it.

And this gave her an idea.

The raven-haired Japanese girl began to get a sly grin on her face, as she glanced over at her beloved.

“I'll bet going to the spa with me won’t be totally idiotic, will it, _anata?_ ” she joked, knowing he'd know exactly what she was referring to.

A blush flooded his cheeks. “Uh, um… Of course not, _kanojo_. Besides, we’re all going together.”

Aelita giggled. “And once we get there, I’m sure we’re all going to have a wonderful time.”

“I hope so,” Cassidy agreed. “I think it would be nice.” Her words weren’t all lies; while she was still putting herself through a world of inner turmoil for unleashing the vortex in the first place, she knew that a day at the spa was exactly what the metaphorical doctor ordered. She knew this would be her chance to experience what Yumi and Aelita had, that one day, and she could feel herself getting excited, over just the thought of what she could do when she got there.

 “Yeah! A little bit more R and R for us,” Odd smiled. “That makes it R, R, and RR!”

Yumi tried to repeat what Odd said, but to little success. “What?”

“Rest, recuperation, and relaxing rubs, Yumi,” the wildcard grinned.

“Oh, that’s a bit confusing, Odd, honey,” Sissi noted.

“Think about it,” Odd turned his attention toward the principal’s daughter. “What are we gonna do, when we get there? Rest, right? And what’s a massage, but some guy rubbing us, while we relax? So we get rest, recuperation, and relaxing rubs!”

“We got that, Odd, but there are so many R’s in there, I don’t know if you’re talking about the main character in that wonderful novel that I’m reading, or if you’re trying to send me a message with R’s in the Morse code.” Cassidy looked at her novio.

“Just think of it as ‘the four R’s,' Cat Girl,” Odd replied.

“That could work better,” she contemplated. “At least things sound better if it’s that way instead of some sort of weird message system.”

“At least we have some clarity now,” Aelita soothed.

Not long after Aelita had finished her sentence, the twelve felt the limo slow down, as it pulled into a driveway. Looking out the window, Yumi and Aelita noticed a familiar building nearby, as Hayden pulled the limo up to the front door of the hotel.

“Wow…” Jeremie exclaimed. “This is great.”

“Now, don’t worry about a thing,” Sissi said. “We’re here to relax and enjoy ourselves.”

While Sissi had meant for everyone to agree with her statement, Jeremie seemed to have other things on his mind.

“But I can’t relax!” he retorted. “What if XANA attacks us while we’re here? This would be the perfect place for him to launch an attack, especially because of how far away from the factory we are! And nobody would let me bring my—”

“Jeremie, calm down,” Aelita commanded in a soothing tone. “We all want you to relax, and we know you can’t do that if you have your computer with you.”

Her face soon sprouted an evil grin. “Besides, you wouldn’t want me to bring out my… ‘secret weapon,’ would you?”

The blond genius’s complexion paled as he brought a hand behind his head and scratched the back of his neck. “Yeah, you’re probably right.”

Yumi began to laugh, as she watched Jeremie’s reaction to Aelita’s playful threats. That was one thing she enjoyed about the two of them: how Aelita could make it seem as though she had him wrapped around her finger, as she usually knew best when it came to taking care of her knight in glasses.

Anthea’s features sprouted a grin, slightly curious as to her daughter’s innocuous threat. However, seeing how she fell in love with her husband, she merely brushed it off, considering that she had made similar threats to Franz, too, when he got a bit huffy.

Franz, however, chuckled. _Someone took a leaf out of her mother’s book._

Odd couldn’t resist laughing, either. “Now why can’t you think of something like that, Cat Girl?”

“Because, either I threaten your desserts, or I threaten Kiwi, and I would do anything for love, but I won’t do that!” Cassidy retorted, her voice gradually entering into a singing tone.

This caused Odd to laugh even harder, the wildcard clutching his stomach as he rocked back and forth.

“I think you made him hysterical,” Ulrich chuckled slightly.

“Can you blame me?” she bantered.

“How can I?” Ulrich retorted, grinning.

Yumi smiled. “Don’t worry, Cassidy. He’ll calm down soon enough.”

“I’m not worried about that. Besides, it’s not as though he has to play guitarra for musical accompaniment for a Shakespearian play.”

“That was a bit weird, I have to admit,” Sissi nodded.

“No kidding, Sister. The laughing gas entered my scanner, and my psychic powers went out of whack. I ended up thinking that Aelita would end up transformed into an alicorn pony for no reason during that Lyoko mission,” Cassidy shivered a bit. “It made me feel as though I would lose a waffle in the virtual universe.”

Odd began to catch his breath as he slowly came down from his laughing fit. Standing still, he leaned forward, huffing as he placed his hands on his hips for support.

“I… remember that…” he huffed. “Did XANA really… mess with your… psychic powers… that badly, Cat Girl?”

“Yes, and I almost thought that Jeremie would find a way to materialize some burritos and you would sing opera. I’d rather not talk about what the fake vision of Yumi and Ulrich beheld. I can reveal that Jim would look pretty silly in a blond wig,” the psychic brunette giggled.

Ulrich felt his cheeks flood red. What had she falsely envisioned that she chose not reveal it? It could have been anything, from her breaking up with him in a terrifying way to something they would only do behind closed doors. The uncertainty was what got to him the most.

“Okay, Ulrich, you’re metaphorically twisting my arm here. I had envisioned you with sugar-pink hair singing a Cher song, and Yumi helped with the backup, wearing a Victorian-Era-style wig and costume. And to tell you the truth, that color doesn’t suit you, and Yumi would look _horrible_ in that type of get-up.”

Strangely, this made Ulrich even more uncomfortable, as he glanced around, uneasily. Yumi, however, was able to see the humor in the situation, as she giggled, hovering a hand in front of her mouth as she closed her eyes. While she couldn’t see Ulrich in a pink wig, much less singing Cher songs, minus that one occasion with the sugar high, the thought was still quite hilarious to her.

“I tried to warn you against it.”

“Well… uh… dah…” Ulrich scratched the back of his head, finding it hard to form any words at all. “Uh… well, you… uh… uh?”

“It’s okay, Cassidy,” Aelita smiled at the psychic brunette. “I’m sure Ulrich will get back down to earth eventually.”

“And it gets slightly worse with William, but he wasn’t even a new student yet,” Cassidy blushed. “He ends up getting arrested for something as mundane as hugging a bunny. That was absolutely off-the-wall.”

Overhearing the psychic brunette’s recollection, William slowly raised his head, a look of confusion replacing the guilty one that had occupied it for most of the limo ride. He glanced over in her direction, taking a moment to process what she had said, before slowly beginning to grin, as a few chuckles escaped his lips.

“I swear I thought my mind went psycho on me,” she giggled, finding her ex-boyfriend’s state contagious. “I wrote it in my vision journal on the look out for any sign that that would come true, but so far, no virtual burritos, Aelita’s still an elven warrior on Lyoko, Odd, you haven’t sung Opera—and thank goodness for that—, Jim never wore a wig, and Ulrich and Yumi aren’t forming a weird band. And William’s not been arrested.”

“Good,” Jeremie quipped, somehow not amused. “I don’t even want to think about how crazy things would be if any of those came true.”

“And thank goodness it won’t. Ugh… I don’t even want to get my wisdom teeth removed after that had happened,” Cassidy groaned.

“You don’t have to worry about that, now,” Sissi added, a calming smile adorning her features. “That was a long time ago, and I’m sure it won’t ever happen again.”

“True,” she nodded, as Hayden opened the door.

“Welcome to the spa, everyone,” he grinned.

It wasn’t long before the twelve had slowly filed out of the limo, one after another, grins and pleasantly surprised looks overtaking their faces. Yumi and Aelita had already been to this spa once before, but they were quite excited to be able to bring everyone else along with them, this time around. The group’s thoughts soon turned to what they would do first, once they were inside, and everything else was taken care of.

“Let’s go inside to get checked in for our time,” Sissi giggled, strolling into the entrance.

Cassidy nodded and walked with her. “This might be an excellent time.”

The twelve excitedly made their way into the building, with everyone except Yumi and Aelita glancing at their surroundings, as they walked through the foyer. A woman stood behind a desk at the end of the entrance, watching Sissi slowly approach.

“Welcome, I trust you’re Sissi Delmas, the one I spoke to on the phone,” the spa official smiled at the young girl.

“That’s right!” Sissi replied, eagerly. “I have reservations for me and my friends. I think I gave you my father’s credit card number, over the phone?”

“Yes, you did, and we called your father to help verify everything. He says he approves of the purchase and wants everyone to de-stress,” she nodded.

“Faaaan-tastic!” Odd exclaimed, overhearing the conversation. “I can’t wait to get started! I wonder what I’ll do first?”

“We have a schedule for everyone, including your puppy.” She handed out several laminated pamphlets.

Jeremie’s eyes widened, out of surprise, as he took one of the pamphlets, moments before the others did the same. “You even offer massages for dogs?”

“We are a pet-friendly resort, Mr. Belpois.”

Odd’s grin increased at this before he turned to look at his friends. “That’s great! This spa has everything! Now my diggity-dog can finally have the hero treatment he deserves, just like us!”

“Yep. And we also have a free meditation at the end of the session,” she smiled.

“Great,” Aelita and Cassidy chorused.

“Locker rooms are right around the corner, boys upstairs and on your left, the girls, the same on your right,” another official, a man, smiled.

Yumi nodded, as everyone except her, Aelita, and Cassidy began heading for the stairs. “Thank you, sir.”

“And Yumi, Aelita, it’s great to see you girls again,” the female official smiled.

The two grinned.

“It’s great to be back,” Aelita commented in reply.

Before following the others, Yumi and Aelita turned toward Cassidy. The two correctly assumed that she knew what was coming, and worried about how she would react, especially since she would probably have to undress for any of the treatments she wanted to experience. Given her fear of seeing anyone wearing anything less than a t-shirt and shorts, they started to wonder how she would be able to undergo any of the spa’s services, including a massage, without struggling with bouts of anxiety.

As a helpful gesture, Yumi hung an arm around Cassidy. “It’ll be okay, Cassidy. You’ll see. We have the entire day to ourselves.”

The psychic brunette smiled. “Plus, I’m with you guys.”

Aelita nodded. “That’s right. We’ll make sure you don’t get uncomfortable.”

“And if you’re willing, then I might give it a chance to see if I like it,” she agreed.

Yumi grinned. “And if you don’t like a certain one, you can always skip it. When Aelita and I came here the first time, Aelita didn’t like the hot stone treatment.”

The kind elven warrior nodded. “It made me think of the lasers on Lyoko. And Yumi fidgeted with the wrap.”

“And thanks to that ‘special circumstance,’ I now know why I acted that way,” the geisha ascertained.

“I guess some things aren’t for everyone,” Cassidy beamed.

“That’s right,” Aelita nodded.

“You only have to do the ones you want to do,” Yumi reassured her. “If any of them make you uncomfortable, just say something.”

“Thanks, girls. That helps a lot,” the psychic brunette sighed happily.

“ _De nada_ ,” Aelita chuckled.

Not long after their conversation had finished, a familiar voice called from the top of the stairs.

“Are you three ready, yet?” It was Sissi, standing by the door to the girls’ locker room, her hand raised and waving back and forth. “We don’t wanna wait too long!”

“We are, Sister,” Cassidy called up to her, walking up the stairs. “Sorry, we just had a few personal rules that Yumi and Aelita wanted to discuss with me.”

“Well, why didn’t you say so!” The principal’s daughter walked down the stairs, joining the three as her smile slightly turned into a look of concern. “Is everything okay, dear sister?”

“Yeah, they just wanted me to know a couple tiny things. Like if they make me uncomfortable, I should speak up, for example,” she recited.

“That’s right!” Sissi agreed, the smile returning to her face. “We don’t want you to feel bad, Cassidy, darling. Today should be a day full of rest and relaxation, the perfect day to wind down. And you can’t wind down if you’re not feeling good.”

“That I agree with, Sissi,” the psychic brunette grinned, as she, Yumi, Aelita, and Sissi began walking up the stairs, toward the girls’ locker room door. “After today, a massage seems to be right up my alley.”

As they opened the door, they found Kaitlyn waiting on the other side, a smile on her face, having overheard the last part of the psychic brunette’s sentence.

“That’s great news,” she praised.

Entering behind her friends, Cassidy’s face suddenly fell, as her mind randomly flashed back to her event in the Desert Sector. “I’m a little bit surprised everyone forgave me as fast as they did, for what I almost did to you all.”

“We forgave you because we understand,” Sissi consoled her, as she, Aelita, Yumi, and Kaitlyn all placed their hands upon her shoulders. “While we haven’t gone through anything like that ourselves—well, except for that ‘special circumstance’—we know the whole thing must have been overwhelming for you. We don’t know how we would’ve handled something like that, either.”

“That’s true,” the geisha agreed.

The assassin smiled. “We would never give up on a friend like you.”

The kind elven warrior nodded. “We’re Lyoko Warriors, stronger after all.”

“Just like Ulrich said,” the psychic brunette beamed.

“Exactly,” the principal’s daughter grinned.

This made Cassidy relax even more, knowing that her incident hadn’t harmed her best, closest friends’ opinions of her in the slightest. It reinforced her trust in them, as she knew she would never, ever do such a thing ever again.

However, as quickly as it came on, Cassidy’s smile slowly faded, to be replaced by a blush, as the psychic brunette scanned the entire room. True to the others’ fear, knowing what she had to do, along with the various states of undress the room’s other occupants found themselves in, began to whip up feelings of discomfort and fear within her.

“Hey, uh… girls?” She fought to keep her speech from stumbling. “Could you, uh…?”

Anthea knew exactly where she was headed. “Don’t worry, Cassidy. We’ll help you get ready.”

As Kaitlyn, Anthea, and Aelita helped the psychic brunette in a corner, the door opened to reveal a girl similar to the elven warrior in some respects. Yumi and Sissi turned to see her in a lavender robe, a towel wrapped around her head, dark red brows above her blue-green hazel eyes.

“Is that who I think it is?” Yumi whispered to the former snob.

“She does look very familiar,” Sissi noted quietly.

The geisha watched as the girl opened her locker, revealing her lavender outfit with a maroon collar and high white socks with shoes matching the same color as the collar; this caused her eyes to widen. “It's Taelia.”

“Ugh, that brat that confused Jeremie and almost had my sister get into a violent fight with him?” the principal's daughter asked.

Yumi nodded. “A foster family took her away from Kadic the week after Cassidy and Aelita had a vision share about the Men in Black at the Hermitage.”

“They must be on vacation with her.”

“You know that I have ears, right?” To the shock of the geisha and the former snob, a voice deeper than Aelita's spoke up.

Yumi and Sissi’s eyes widened, surprised that Taelia had overheard them, as they assumed the volume of their voices had been quiet enough. Sissi immediately glanced in a different direction while getting ready, hoping to give her the impression that she was talking about someone else.

“Hello, _Yumi_. How’s that family of yours?” Taelia asked sharply.

“They're doing well, Taelia.”

“Good. I just want you to know that I have also seen that vortex. Scared me badly. I almost thought it was the end of time itself.” She shook her head. “And I thought your blond friends were crazy.”

“One of them hadn’t had much sleep back then,” Yumi replied. “But let’s not mention the vortex too loudly, okay? Cassidy doesn’t like to think about it because it really bothers her.”

“Oh, yes. The girl who jumped the blond with glasses and went stark-freaking mad. Did she get some comeuppance for that?”

“She almost ended up with a detention, but the return trip wiped it off,” she nodded.

“To think your genius friend thought I was her.” Taelia pointed at the young pink-haired girl. “Other than a few things, we don't look alike.”

“I don't think you are related.” Yumi shook her head. “Your hairstyles may be similar, but you’re definitely not identical twins.”

“Today is my last day here, and I'm going home soon,” she nodded. “I’m sorry that I almost made your friend go to jail.”

“We’ve been through worse. And I hope your foster parents are treating you well.”

“They're my _parents_ now.” She winked, a small smile forming on her face as she got dressed.

Yumi grinned. From the sounds of things, Taelia had found a good pair of foster parents that were treating her well, and this made her quite happy to hear.

Nearby, the principal’s daughter turned her attention back toward the geisha, as Taelia continued to dress.

“That was close,” Sissi said.

Soon, Yumi and Sissi began to undress, getting themselves ready for the first treatment on their respective schedules. Nearby, however, Cassidy was also getting undressed, but at a slower pace.

“I hope that I’ll be able to relax, Aelita,” Cassidy fretted, slight tinges of worry appearing in her voice.

“Cassidy, relax. Don't get so carried away,” Aelita soothed. “This is just for the day. Not for a month.”

“True.”

“If you’re worried about being seen naked,” Anthea tried to reassure her, “most of your body will be draped, no matter what treatment you get. Even if you go for a body scrub, you’ll be covered by a towel while the Vichy shower is over you. All of the officials will also be clothed, as well.”

“That would be better than nothing,” she commented, feeling a bit relieved. “I guess this being my first time in a spa has gotten me wound up a little.”

“It’s understandable,” Kaitlyn encouraged her. “But I bet after this one, you’ll wanna come back again, another time.”

She nodded, taking a deep breath. “Maybe you’re right. I’m probably worrying too much, as usual.”

“You've worried about us for so long. Now, why don’t you relax, and let them pamper you?” Aelita suggested.

“You're right. I _have_ worried about you all, planning things way ahead. From saving Yumi from Digital Sea to William's flirting on Lyoko, I rarely gave myself time to pamper myself.” The psychic brunette's cheeks flooded red.

“And that’s why we’re here.” The elven warrior’s mother wrapped her in her warm embrace. “The only thing you need to worry about now is how deeply the masseuse will relax you.”

Cassidy returned the warm hug, softly rubbing Anthea’s back, before putting on her robe.

“We’re all here to enjoy ourselves,” Kaitlyn reassured. “I know that it might be different from being in the United States, but we all need to loosen up—even my cousin.”

Aelita immediately started giggling, as she hovered her hand in front of her mouth, with her eyes closed. If anyone needed to be pampered nearly as much, if not more than, Cassidy, it was Jeremie. Between them, she couldn’t think of anyone who worried nearly as much as they did; not even she was that bad.

“He’s wound up tighter than the ‘Lesson Zero’ version of Twilight Sparkle, minus the sanity slippage,” Cassidy noted, tying the knot in her robe.

“What happened there?” Aelita wondered.

“She had to write friendship reports for her mentor and thought she had to do them every week. It got her so wound up when she came upon a day where she didn't learn anything new. Something in her snapped when her six friends had no problems, but I don't want to spoil the rest,” Cassidy smiled.

“It's okay, Cassidy,” Kaitlyn smiled, robing up.

“Yeah.” The psychic brunette looked at her schedule. “First for me is aromatherapy. That doesn't sound bad at all.”

“Mine is a massage,” the assassin read off from her own.

Aelita’s eyes glanced down at hers. “Looks like I’m going for a body scrub, first. What about you, Mommy?”

“I’ve got a hot stone treatment,” Anthea read from her schedule. “That should feel fantastic.”

Aelita felt her body tense up slightly, as her mother revealed her first scheduled treatment. This was the very treatment she had hoped to avoid, because of the memories it provoked. However, she soon tried to calm herself, reasoning that this was not happening to _her_ , and that while her mother had had her own share of misfortune, she was certain it didn’t include taking laser fire to her back, and therefore concluded she would possibly react differently to having hot stones placed on different parts of her back.

“What about you, Yumi?” Cassidy asked.

In reply, the geisha read the first line on her schedule. “It looks like I’ve got aromatherapy, too. And you, Sissi?”

“A body scrub!” the former snob exclaimed. “Oh, my whole body is going to be so soft and smooth!”

“Great!” Aelita beamed.

“Cool,” Kaitlyn smiled. “We have our assignments. Let's go!”

It was settled. The six immediately left the locker room and headed for the rooms where their first treatments would be given. Yumi led Cassidy down the hallway toward the aromatherapy room, while Aelita and Sissi made their way toward the body scrub area. Kaitlyn and Anthea went their separate ways, each heading for their respective destinations. It was time to relax, something they all sorely needed after everything they had been through, over the past few months.


	9. The Assembly or The Lyoko Warriors Reap the Benefits and Rewards That True Heroes Deserve

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hunter Moebius and I don't own Code Lyoko or Kaitlyn Belpois

The Lyoko Warriors sat at their extended table, feeling incredibly relaxed from their day at the spa. Sissi gave a slightly irritated glare toward Hervé, remembering the damage he unwittingly inflicted upon her “sister.” In reply, the acne-scarred boy merely folded his arms, a guilty look taking hold of his features. He didn’t realize the subject was that touchy, and he occasionally tended to forget that Cassidy was capable of reading others’ minds, in the first place.

“That was nice,” Jeremie smiled, feeling calmer in his demeanor after his day of intense relaxation. When he went in for his massage, the official was surprised to learn that he packed a lot of knots in his back and other muscles. It took some extra minutes to finally release them all.

“You can say that again, Einstein,” Odd commented. “Even Kiwi is happy.”

Indeed, the puppy had a wonderful time with his owner and the officials. When Odd went to retrieve him, the dog almost didn’t want to leave the room he had been kept in. He even made friends with one that almost looked like him, but had a puff of white fur on the tip of her tail. If it weren't for that tiny difference, the gender, as well as her pink collar, the wildcard would have accidentally made off with someone else's canine.

Cassidy nodded, a smile—one the others hadn't seen in quite some time—settled upon her features. “I loved it.”

Sitting nearby, Sissi was quite overjoyed to hear this. “That’s great! See, I told you it would make you feel better!”

“It made all of us feel better,” Yumi nodded.

William grinned. “I didn't know what I was missing.”

“Me, neither, William, honey,” the psychic brunette giggled.

Sissi turned a look of pure gladness in Cassidy’s direction. “And the best part is, we can go back, nearly any time we like!”

“That's nice,” she nodded.

Aelita leaned closer to the psychic brunette, a grin plastered across her face, yet unsure if her target wanted the others to overhear.

“I know what the other best part is,” she cooed, lowering her voice. “You barely had any problems with the treatments you underwent, yesterday.”

“There were a couple of them that I didn't like, but I loved the rest,” she whispered back.

“I had the same schedule as she did, and she sat out the sauna and wrap,” Yumi noted.

“I was the victim of the vines this time, remember? And I still have memories of being trapped in the boiler in the Hermitage. I may have been brave back then, but it still traumatized me,” she recalled.

As quiet as they thought they were, the other members of the table were still able to overhear her last statement. In particular, Jeremie’s eyes widened in reply.

“Why didn’t you tell us that?” he jumped in, sounding concerned. “I’m sure Sissi could have easily got your schedule changed, so you wouldn’t have had to undergo any treatment that reminded you of a past XANA attack.”

Sissi’s face slowly began to fall, as she placed her hand upon her “sister’s” shoulder. “Yes, I would have! I wish I had known! I would’ve easily changed it for you!”

The psychic brunette's facial expression faltered. “I didn't want to bother anyone.”

This time, Ulrich felt the need to throw his metaphorical hat into the ring.

“Cassidy,” he turned toward her, a look of concern on his face, “you really need to tell us these things. If something really bothers you, or scares you, we need to know. We’re your friends, and we care about you. We wouldn’t be like this if we weren’t.”

“He’s right,” Jeremie added. “It’s going to be detrimental to all of us, if you keep these things to yourself. How are we supposed to know your feelings on any given matter, if you don’t let us know, ahead of time? We could put you into a situation you’re really uncomfortable with, and that wouldn’t help any of us. Never.”

Yumi nodded in agreement. “Things like that shouldn’t just be between us girls. What if XANA tries to trick you, by using one of your worries against you? We can’t keep him away, if we don’t know that it bothers you.”

”And by the way,” Jeremie felt the need to further drive home their point, “don’t forget about that XANAfied scientist in the Amazon lab that talked down to you, and how you reacted to that kiss William suddenly gave you in Sector 5, before we lost Lyoko the first time. If we had known of the possibility that any of those events were prone to take place, I can assure you that I would not have teleported you out of the Skid, or you would have had the option to stay back home in the computer lab, with me. The same thing with when William came to Siberia. I saw a big black X in your vision journal, but if you left it alone, I would have kept you close to the Skid, no matter how you didn't like Ulrich at the time.”

The psychic brunette sighed. “You're right. But my nightmare—I scared you by unleashing the monster. And I showed you the picture before, but in favor of Sister, I was ignored by the fact that Franz had taken control over her. I tried to warn Yumi, Aelita, and William about it when it reared its ugly head again, but the Core of Lyoko was under attack. By the time it became a recurring thing, I felt that the current attack would circumvent me. I—I clammed up.” Cassidy frowned.

Everyone’s gazes hit the table, as they realized she was right. As much as they asked her to tell them everything she knew, whenever they got that information, sometimes they didn’t always act on it, especially when the situation took higher precedence. This was something they knew they needed to work on, as well.

“You’re right,” Yumi lamented, offering the psychic brunette an apologetic look. “We really need to listen to you better, too.”

Jeremie sighed. “It’s a bad habit of mine, as well.”

“Even as your boyfriend, I didn't listen to you, either,” Odd muttered.

“We were too busy with XANA.” Ulrich scratched the back of his head.

Nearby, Sissi was reminded of the things the vortex had showed her, primarily regarding how the others had acted, whenever Cassidy had given them important information. Before the vortex, Sissi had noticed the psychic brunette’s state of health would sometimes change rapidly, or at least that’s how it seemed to her. One minute she would be fine, and when she would see her again, suddenly she would be moments from collapsing, looking as though she had met a viscous vampire. It was thanks to the vortex that she found out why this happened, and it bothered her greatly.

Cassidy’s and Jeremie’s talk about the kiss he gave the psychic brunette only further added to the guilt William already felt, from having been XANA’s prisoner for several months. He had kissed her, on his first mission to Sector Five, just as a way of reassuring her that he didn’t care about her looks. However, he wasn’t happy with himself, once he found out that it had caused her to freeze up completely afterward. He already felt terrible that they had originally lost Lyoko, because of him; knowing he ruined Cassidy’s chances of helping to prevent that further twisted the metaphorical knife in his heart.

“So, why don’t we all make a promise, right now?” Sissi offered, noticing the looks on the table’s occupants’ visages and trying to lighten the mood. “Let’s all promise to listen to each other more, especially when my dear sister has something to say.”

“Promise!” everyone eagerly agreed.

“It's all behind me, now, anyway,” the psychic brunette smiled, “and I feel great.”

“Awesome!” Ulrich smiled.

Sissi gave a closed-eye grin to the others, moments before turning to Hervé, and reopening her eyes. “And Hervé, I need to talk to you about something very important.”

“Oh, yeah?” he asked, a pang of fear skipping inside his heart.

“Yes,” Sissi began. “I think it would be best if you didn’t think about secrets that my sister shouldn’t know about, especially when you’re sitting across from her.”

Her tone getting gentler, she leaned closer to the acne-scarred boy. “I’m not angry at you, though.”

Hervé’s cheeks flooded red as his body threatened to burst into flames. “Y-y-y-you’re… n-n-n-not…?”

“No… But if she had done something she would regret later on, _then_ I would have been angry,” Sissi remarked.

“Well, uh-uh-uh… t-t-that’s a relief,” Hervé replied, with a nervous chuckle.

“Sissi, I think you're overheating his systems again,” Ulrich chuckled a bit.

The principal’s daughter glanced back toward Ulrich for a moment, before a look of surprise overtook her face, and she sat upright in her chair. “Sorry, Hervé.”

Before he was able to reply, however, Hervé felt himself lose consciousness, as he slumped over, onto his mostly-empty tray of food. Beside the acne-scarred boy, Nicholas sniggered like an idiot.

“Typical, Sister talks to him, and he acts as though he got somehow connected to XANA next,” Cassidy sighed.

“He’s almost acting the same way Jeremie did,” Aelita randomly quipped, “the first time I kissed him.”

“Was that in front of Yumi's place or the vending machines?” the psychic brunette asked, a smile creeping up on her face.

“The vending machines,” the rose-haired princess replied, grinning. “That was the first time I kissed him on the lips, to make sure he wasn’t XANA’s clone.”

“Ah. He sure blanked out that day. But then again, before _he_ thawed out, William tried the same test on me, and the next thing I remember was a cold and wet sensation before coming back to Earth,” Cassidy giggled.

Odd chuckled. “I just thought you could use a drink, Cat Girl!”

“That helped! I just got stuck, but I guess it foreshadowed what would happen to me in Sector Five,” she muttered, her slight amusement turning into a dark frown.

William looked at Cassidy, fear overtaking his features. “Hey, if I had known you were gonna freeze up, I wouldn’t have kissed you like that.”

“It wasn't your fault, William, honey. My emotions felt like a hand grenade and a kiss would make the pin disengage and explode during that time,” she soothed.

While Cassidy tried to calm William, Odd suddenly noticed that something strange had happened all around them.

“Hey, have you noticed that Rosa and Charles have disappeared?” he quipped.

“Maybe they went to get some more food,” Ulrich jested in reply.

“To be honest, most of the cafeteria has gone,” Aelita noted.

“And I know we haven't entered into an intermediate space XANA manufactured,” Jeremie nodded. “We were at the spa yesterday.”

“Do you think most of the students and faculty have gone home for the weekend?” Patrick asked as Kaitlyn gently poked at the unconscious Hervé with the handle of her fork.

“ _Uno_ , it's not even close to the weekend. And _dos_ , something is definitely going on,” his male cousin blinked.

Interestingly, as if his words were a trigger, Nicholas slid his chair out, reached over, picked up and carried Hervé out of the cafeteria, without saying a single word to anyone.

“Okay, _that_ was weird,” Kaitlyn observed.

“Where did Nicholas get that kind of upper-body strength?” Sissi was dumbfounded, as well.

“He has been known to knock Hervé out with one hit if he’s provoked enough,” Odd said.

This caused Sissi’s eyes to widen further, the surprise on her face increasing in turn. “So, what are they doing?!”

“I… don't—know,” Cassidy muttered, her eyes as big as Euro coins. “This is wackier than wacky neighbors doing _cosas_ _locas_.”

Yumi blinked; this hadn’t been the first time she had heard Cassidy say that. The last time was when XANA had possessed an entire murderous storytelling of crows, before the two split up.

“Do you think your powers are acting up?” the geisha was concerned.

“Yumi, in some areas, I'm still emotionally overloaded with what I learned what I did to you guys. But my powers are still scrambling to get back together after seeing Franz for the first time. I can only read minds for the moment,” the psychic brunette shook her head. “And even then, no one has thought about anything suspicious today.”

“ _Only_ mind reading?!” This surprised Odd greatly. “Why didn’t you tell us that?!”

“My world has been shot up, rearranged, shattered, sucked into a black hole of depression, and re-repaired since waking up from my coma. And this was before we all promised each other that we should communicate better. I just couldn't find the words to convey it properly,” she admitted.

“It’s okay.” Jeremie reached across the table, reassuringly placing his hand atop Cassidy’s. “You’ve had a lot on your brain since then. Don’t worry about it. Just give it time, and I’m sure your psychic powers will return to full capacity.”

“Plus my mind felt overwhelmed and overloaded—the coma, that weird tower and the Replika that housed it, its destruction, the new room…”

As she continued to list off different things that had thrown her psychic powers for a loop, she felt a soft hand give her a soothing back rub. Turning to her right, Yumi was glancing at her, offering a calming, disarming smile.

“We know you’ve been through a lot since your coma,” she cooed. “But it’s okay; don’t worry.”

To the geisha’s delight, the psychic brunette stopped her spiel and took a deep breath, a grin of her own growing on her facial features. “One of the things that I'm grateful for, slightly above the spa day that followed, but not by much, is the fact that you all saved me from my stupid decision.”

She felt a soft rub against the back of her hand, this time from Jeremie. “Relax, Cassidy. We’ve all made stupid decisions, before. Remember the Marabounta I created?”

“Not the dark purple balls of doom, again!” Odd quipped, grinning widely. “Although, Cat Girl sure looked cool, riding on the back of that Krabe.”

“Even though it didn't like it when I yelled, ‘Hi-ho Krabby.’” Cassidy giggled.

The wildcard chuckled, as well. “And how about the way those monsters bowed to us, after you destroyed it?”

“That was pretty neat.”

Yumi smiled, as she listened to Cassidy and Odd reminisce, before noticing something strange out the window, out of the corner of her eye. Turning her head quickly, she happened to notice Hiroki dash past, the backpack strapped to his back having a bigger bulge than normal. She raised an eyebrow at this strange phenomenon.

“Hey! Look over there. It's Hiroki!” She pointed over the shoulders of those facing away from the window.

The wildcard looked in the direction she was pointing. “What's wrong? Did the mice break out of Mrs. Hertz’s lab, again, or something?”

“And what is in his backpack?” Cassidy blinked. “It doesn't look like books from the library. Not even my journalism notes had that many pages.”

Yumi squinted, trying to get a better look at Hiroki’s backpack, but her little brother had sped past the cafeteria before she was able to.

“Well, whatever’s in there,” she turned back to the others, “it might be important to him.”

“Don't you think it's weird that his backpack was full of something big?” Cassidy asked.

Jeremie shrugged. “It could've been a video game console. Hiroki sure loves to play those.”

“Well, I find it suspicious. Hiroki normally doesn't pack that much stuff in his bags,” the psychic brunette blinked.

“Maybe,” Odd suggested, “he’s the head of a group that meets up every Sunday night, to watch _Hospital of Horrors?_ He’s probably just got popcorn and monster masks; nothing special.”

“Wouldn't he be wearing a mask, too? Isn't that the point of a marathon?”

“Well… maybe it scares Milly and Tamiya, so he waits until he gets into the club room, to put his on?” Odd’s pitch rose, slightly, giving the impression that he was grasping at straws.

“Odd, I don't buy it for a minute,” his novia frowned.

“But it does scare Milly and Tamiya,” Sissi added.

“I know it does, Sister! I can't even watch it because even the lead characters have scary motivations,” Cassidy shuddered. “And even with what Ulrich asked Johnny about that one time—even though I had thought that Johnny was having a crush on Yumi at the time.”

This caused a look of embarrassment to overtake Ulrich’s face, as he folded his arms. “Don’t remind me.”

“I told Jeremie to tell you that I wasn't even mad at you at all. And I’m still not mad at you for that,” the psychic brunette attempted to reassure the samurai.

Instead, Ulrich merely grunted, burying his head in his arms, as he rested them upon the table in front of him.

“Look, would you feel better if we go to Hiroki and talk to him a bit, Cassidy?” Jeremie asked.

“Yes,” she said.

The blond genius then turned to face the other occupants of the table. “Would any of you like to go with us?”

“I volunteer!” Odd raised his hand, excitedly. “Besides, I’d love to see if I was right about the secret Hospital club! I could even be the president!”

“Odd… I'm not sure that it _is_ a club,” Cassidy protested.

“If there isn’t, then I’m gonna start one!”

He then turned to Sissi. “And Sissi, you can be vice president!”

Sissi folded her arms in anger. “Odd! That’s not the point! We’re gonna try to figure out where Yumi’s little brother’s going! We can worry about starting a club, later!”

“Let’s just stay here,” Ulrich lifted his head upward, momentarily. “I’m sure it’s nothing.”

“Well, I’m curious, too,” Yumi added. “So I say we should look.”

“Seconded!” Sissi raised her hand in support.

“Same here!” Odd smiled.

“Sure, why not?” Aelita smiled, calmly. “All this talk about what it could be is making me curious, too.”

Jeremie glanced around the table, almost unsure, before turning his attention toward the psychic brunette. “I don’t really see the harm in it. Maybe it’s nothing at all, or a coincidence.”

“There!” Odd turned toward Ulrich, whose head was still buried in his arms, wallowing in the memory of his embarrassment. “You’re outvoted, good buddy!”

“Jeremie, it looks weird to me. Didn't we just have a conversation about listening to me a little more?” Cassidy’s face slowly began to fall, feeling as though the genius was going to break the vow he made a few minutes ago.

“You’re right,” Jeremie nodded, before turning to Ulrich. “C’mon, Ulrich. If we’re going to make good on our promise, we need to start now.”

In reply, Ulrich removed his hand from underneath his head, and sent a dismissive wave toward the others.

“Oh, alright…” a muffled, defeated reply came from the brown-haired boy.

“Now, come on, everyone. My curiosity is burning me alive,” Cassidy blinked, her mind made up.

With the vote having been decided, the ten wasted no time leaving their table, and the cafeteria. They spent several minutes looking around the campus grounds, before soon finding Hiroki standing under the arches, near the gymnasium.

“Hey, Hiroki! Can we talk to you for a minute?” Yumi asked.

In reply, the boy whirled around, trying his best to hide his surprise.

“Uh, hey sis!” he responded, quickly adopting a grin. “What are you doing here?”

“We are boarders here, remember?” She took a step toward her brother.

“Oh, yeah!” Hiroki tried to give a genuine smile, while feeling uneasy.

“We’re just wondering what you could possibly need that your backpack looks so heavy that you might tip over,” Aelita pondered.

The Japanese boy began glancing to his left and right, searching for a plausible excuse. “Uhh… I’m setting up a… movie night. Yeah! A movie night with Johnny and Milly!”

“There! Ya see, Cat Girl? He’s having a movie night,” Odd smiled. “Nothing to worry about.”

Cassidy folded her arms, not buying Hiroki’s excuse, or Odd’s reassurance. “Hold it, Ninja-Cat-Boy. I'm not sure about this!”

“W-what do ya mean, Cassidy?” Yumi’s brother asked.

“If it's just you three, then what happened to the teachers, faculty, and the rest of our classmates, even those in the above grades and below?” The psychic brunette challenged, her intuition strongly insisting that the Japanese boy was lying.

Even Jeremie soon started to see this, as well. “She’s right; every member of the faculty, and all of the other students seem to have vanished into thin air.”

“Uh…” Hiroki gulped.

The psychic brunette sighed slowly, forcing herself to keep herself calm in front of her friend's brother. “Listen, Hiroki. We won't be mad at you if you just be honest with us. We're just curious about what is going on.”

Beads of sweat began to drip from Hiroki’s forehead, as he continued to fumble around, as if he was adamant about keeping a secret. “Well… it’s, uh… it’s…”

“HIROKI ISHIYAMA!” a voice suddenly rang through the air, sounding as though it was angry at the boy.

A second later, Jim came walking out of the gymnasium, his face bearing a somewhat angry expression as he approached him. “I thought I told you to get the supplies to the gym a few minutes ago! I—”

Stopping, his eyes widened as he noticed who else had been privy to his last statement. He quickly fixed his face back into its usual stiff, stoic expression as he addressed the ten Warriors.

“And what are you ten doing here?!” He extended his right index finger toward the dorm building. “Back into your room, on the double!!”

Without needing a second warning, the others immediately turned around and walked back into Lyoko HQ, some feeling slightly disappointed.

“There's something fishy in the never-forgotten Alamo,” Cassidy remarked as she sat atop her bed, a soft ball of yarn in her hand. “I can feel it in my gut.”

“Well, if you ask me,” Odd added, folding his arms as the event reminded him of a previous situation, “I’m finding it harder and harder to trust female intuition, anymore.”

“I wasn't in the scanner room when Yumi and Aelita talked about female intuition, remember?!” She looked at her boyfriend. “I was in the elevator shaft with no car, climbing up with Jeremie!”

“She’s right,” Jeremie agreed. “XANA’s clones had just thrown the two of us down the elevator shaft, intending to kill us.”

“So don't put memories in my brain that I had no part in, _Novio_!” Cassidy growled. “I may not have my visions, but I can tell that something is up.”

“Okay, okay!” the wildcard raised his hands, defensively. “So you weren’t there. But let me remind you, those same clones of yours and Einstein’s sent one too many volts through me!”

This served to calm the psychic brunette slightly. “Sorry, Odd. I just—I have a bad feeling about this. Hiroki didn't even want to have our daily hugs.”

“Eh, no worries, Cat Girl.” Odd promptly shoved whatever anger he was feeling behind a calming smile, for Cassidy’s benefit. “It’s in the past, now.”

“But that _is_ weird,” Yumi suddenly spoke up, surprise painting her face. “He always hugs you.”

“Exactly! He did it yesterday after breakfast before I sulked here, and the day before, just after supper. He just couldn't do it when I woke up from my coma because he didn't want to hurt me,” the psychic brunette worried. “Did the other students finally convince him that I'm weird during the three months I was out?”

Surprised looks spread across everyone’s faces, as they quickly tried to disprove this theory.

“Hey, if they did that,” Odd jumped in, “then they’d have to convince him that I’m twice as weird! You know me!”

Cassidy soon felt Yumi sit next to her, on her bed, the geisha’s arm coming to rest across her shoulders. “Besides, Hiroki would never believe that, anyway. He’s much smarter than that.”

“She’s right,” Aelita agreed. “He knows you better than that. He wouldn’t think that, even if he was told to.”

“You’re worrying too much, Cassidy,” Ulrich tried to reassure her, with a smile.

“There’s clearly something else going on, just as you suggested,” Jeremie added. “There’s no need to jump to ridiculous conclusions.”

“What about the time we had that fight, Einstein? The one about only Aelita at the hospital? You thought I was ridiculous, too,” Cassidy asked, head lowering.

Jeremie found his face falling, as he realized her memories were all too vivid. She had come to him, freaking out that she had seen Aelita in the hospital the day after, and possibly dying, and he thought she was being silly. Even when he tried to disprove her, she continued to remind him that her visions tended to be quite accurate. The following day he was quickly proven wrong, as his darling pink-haired princess fainted during class, and continued to lose consciousness until the psychic brunette was able to change the Supercomputer’s uranium battery, thanks to XANA possessing Peter Duncan.

“Listen,” he soothed, “you proved me wrong that day, remember? And, like Ulrich, I tend to say a lot of things out of anger, that aren’t necessarily true. Besides, I already apologized to you about it, once before, and I’ll gladly do it again, if it will make you feel better.”

She looked up at him. “It's true, you did apologize after revealing the group’s math test scores, minus Yumi.”

“William and I didn't even have a math test the day before,” Yumi giggled.

“And to set the record straight,” Jeremie added, “no, I _don’t_ think your powers are ridiculous, stupid, or even annoying. None of us do.”

“Ulrich did at points, Jeremie—one of the reasons why I clammed up in the first place.”

“Einstein told you, it was out of anger,” Ulrich defended. “I didn’t mean to say that, and I told you that already. I don’t think your powers are annoying. They’ve helped us out of so many jams I’ve lost track.”

“True, but that monster I unleashed… It scared you all.”

Cassidy felt Yumi’s hand softly and soothingly rub her back.

“Cassidy, that was our fault,” the geisha soothed, a regretful look painting her features. “You had given us so many signs beforehand, but we were the ones who chose to ignore them. You couldn’t control what happened to you. We should have stopped it, but we didn’t.”

“And besides,” Kaitlyn jumped in, “if the wrong people had seen the vortex, wouldn’t they have done something about it, by now?”

“Yeah,” William agreed. “So far, everyone just thinks we’re like a bunch of rock stars, or something.”

“But I really don’t think we have anything to worry about,” Aelita added, joining the psychic brunette, and the geisha, upon Cassidy’s bed. “It’s been four months since that day. Why don’t we try to put it behind us?”

“It’s not good to keep worrying about things that have already happened,” Sissi calmly walked over to the psychic brunette, giving her a disarming smile. “We’re not worrying about it. What’s wrong with leaving it in the past, where it belongs?”

“You know they’re right,” Jeremie chimed in. “Hanging onto it isn’t going to make you feel any better. It’s not like something unspeakable is going to happen, or anything like that.”

“I guess I'm atoning for my sins, but seeing you forgive me for that brings the sunshine to a million homes for me,” Cassidy admitted, a smile slowly beginning to bloom upon her face.

“Now that’s the Cassidy we know.” Yumi began to grin, as well. “You stole that line from the Subdigitals.”

“Can you blame me?” she asked, almost as a taunt.

An ambitious grin overtook Yumi’s face, as she brought her other hand around, to mess with Cassidy’s hair, moments before embracing the girl in a warm hug, laughing as she did so.

Finding their laughter contagious, Aelita wrapped her arms around the two, as Sissi and Kaitlyn ran over to join the hug, laughing all the way.

Jeremie beamed, seeing the girls all getting along with each other as they normally did, now that Sissi had joined the ranks. Whatever ramifications the psychic brunette’s guilt had, it had quickly morphed into a sisterhood of sorts.

Odd couldn’t help but laugh, as he watched the five girls hug each other, with smiles and giggles all around. A mischievous grin soon formed upon his face, as he realized he, too, wanted to join the warm embrace.

“GERONIMO!” he cried as he dove right into the girly dog pile.

“Odd!” Aelita laughed, as hers and four other pairs of arms soon found the wildcard, absorbing him into their warm embrace.

Watching the six friends hug each other, giggling along the way, Jeremie, Ulrich, William and Patrick stood up, getting slightly curious. The blond genius was the first to test the waters, as he slowly approached Cassidy’s bed, with a curious look on his face. Seeing his approach, the psychic brunette gently grabbed his wrist and pulled him into the embrace, getting him as close to Aelita as possible.

Ulrich was next, his eyes widening as he saw how easily Jeremie was invited—for lack of a better word—into the warm, hugging group of friends. Wondering how they might react to his arrival, the samurai walked over to the group, getting slightly leery as he came closer.

Catching his approach, Yumi gingerly grinned and held out her hand, slowly craning her neck above the others in the hug.

“What’s the matter, Ulrich?” she playfully taunted him. “Don't tell me you're scared.”

It only took Ulrich a moment to harden his features, before firmly placing his hand within Yumi’s, allowing the geisha to gently pull him into the warm embrace, the samurai lowering his defenses under the soothing hugs of his best, closest friends.

Unlike Jeremie and Ulrich, who had been anywhere from slightly curious, to somewhat leery about what awaited them if they got too close, William seemed quite confident that something similar would happen to him, as befell the others. A grin plastered across his face, he calmly walked up to the hugging group, watching to see what would happen.

No sooner had he come within inches of Cassidy’s bed, then a familiar arm stretched forth from the group, surprising the formerly XANAfied warrior when he realized it wasn’t one of the girls.

“Your turn, William!” It happened to belong to Odd, who wasted no time grabbing his wrist, and gently pulling him in, laughing as he did so.

With only one member not part of the embrace, Kaitlyn raised her head above the group, before zeroing in on the boy in question.

“Oh, Patrick?” she called out to the remaining straggler.

“Huh?” he looked over at the group.

“What are you waiting for?” he heard Yumi playfully call to him.

“You're a part of our group, too, Patrick! We're not leaving you behind,” Jeremie smiled.

A grin slowly began to form upon Patrick’s face, as he slowly approached the hugging group. As he got closer, Kaitlyn’s arms reached out, and gently pulled him by his wrists into the warm embrace, the boy soon finding relaxation, surrounded by his caring, loving friends and cousins.

In the center of the warm embrace of her best, closest friends, Cassidy could feel the love from each and every single one of her friends. It was moments like these that reminded her just how incredible her _mejores amigos cercanos_ truly were to her. She could just feel their want to take care of her, and to make sure that nothing crazy ever happened to her. No matter what any of them might say in anger, they knew they couldn’t do without her. And the converse was true, as well. They were an incredible team, two members stronger, and still ready to take down any threat, especially those from XANA.

While wrapped in his best, closest friends’ caring, loving embraces, Odd suddenly raised his head above the crowd of huggers, searching for one animal in particular.

“Hey, wait!” he called out, his eyes scanning Lyoko HQ for any trace of the hound. “Where’s Kiwi?”

He didn’t have to look very far, as a familiar bark soon filled his ears, the dog in question running toward his owner.

“Come on in, Kiwi!” Jeremie smiled. “You’re important, too.”

Kiwi let out a happy bark, as Odd gently weaved through the group, before scooping up the dog.

“I’m so blessed to have friends like you,” Cassidy grinned as Odd placed the dog in her lap. Kiwi immediately started nuzzling the psychic brunette’s belly, prompting a laugh from the girl.

“Better believe it, Cat Girl!” Odd bragged. “You’ve got the best friends in the whole wide world… and the best _novio_ you could ever wish for!”

“Thanks, Odd,” she giggled.

As she laughed, she felt a somewhat gentle pair of hands play with her hair, from behind. The quick chuckle that followed alerted her to exactly who had done it; the culprit was none other than Ulrich. “Samurai…” she chortled.

Watching Ulrich interact with Cassidy brought a mischievous grin to Yumi’s face, the geisha getting an idea of her own. She maneuvered her arms around, until they had surrounded Ulrich, at which point she began to gently tickle the samurai’s sides, the mischievous grin upon her face growing the entire time.

Surprise overtook the samurai’s face as he felt his _kanojo_ wrap her arms around him, moments before he exploded into laughter, as her playful onslaught began.

“Hey, I thought it was time-out,” he teased, a smile growing on his features.

“Oops… I guess I forgot,” Yumi giggled.

Aelita couldn’t help but laugh, as well. She knew Yumi could be quite playful, not only with her friends, but Ulrich in particular, when the moment was right; seeing the two in action was a class act in itself.

Near his darling pink princess, Jeremie couldn’t help but wonder if she was somehow getting similar ideas, and wondered if he should be afraid of facing a similar playful torture from her.

Cassidy wiped a tear of laughter from her eyes. She knew Ulrich and Yumi were meant to be together, and she didn’t need her powers to tell her either way. Ulrich and Yumi knew each other longer than the geisha and William, and the samurai made it plain that he did not have feelings for Sissi, Emily, or anyone else; only his _kanojo._

“You’ve had a burning feeling that they would be together, didn’t you?” Kaitlyn whispered into the psychic brunette’s ear, prompting a nod from her.

“This time, it was my intuition that told me,” the psychic brunette replied in a hushed voice. “My powers had nothing to do with it. And just looking at the way they act around each other, you’d have to be as blind as they originally were, not to see it.”

The two continued to play silly games with each other, long after the warm, comforting hug broke away. The others returned to doing other tasks; Cassidy draped herself in the shawl she had been given, and took to starting another knitting project—this time, another for Mrs. Hertz, as thanks for making hers—as Kaitlyn watched; Sissi knelt behind the psychic brunette, and began softly brushing her hair as she knitted, in preparation for braiding it, later on. Odd picked up his Game Boy, and started in on another game of _Ultimate Blaster_ , soon joined by Patrick and William in intense player versus player.

Meanwhile, Jeremie and Aelita cornered around the former’s computer, diligently checking Lyoko for any sign of digital activity, the Einstein’s curiosity reaching new levels, particularly from XANA’s continued silence. What had caused this phenomenon from the multi-agent system? Was he planning an incredibly powerful attack, similar to the Kolossus it created on the Ice Sector Replika, or the massive return trip that caused the whole timeline change in the first place? If so, would they be prepared enough to get to the factory on time and prevent their memories from getting wiped a second time?

As these thoughts and more filled Jeremie’s head, a few hours had passed everyone by. It was at this point when they found the answer to their earlier curiosity.

 _“This is Milly reporting: Would the students, and their little doggie, in Lyoko HQ please come down to the gym at once,”_ Milly’s voice rang from the P.A. system.

The collective eyebrows of the ten rose, nerves welling up within Cassidy, Kaitlyn, Patrick, and Sissi, as they heard the message ring out.

Ulrich stood up from Odd’s bed, placing his Game Boy on the sheets, near where he once sat. “Wait, was that Milly? Why does she want us to come to the gym and bring Kiwi, too?”

“Whatever it is, I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” the psychic brunette fretted, putting down her knitting needles and putting a bookmark on the row she was on.

“Maybe it’s nothing, Cat Girl,” Odd tried to reassure her. “We probably left something behind when we chased Hiroki, earlier, and they just wanna give it back to us. Either that or they’re putting on a dog show.”

“Maybe…” she sighed, tinges of worry still taking hold of her voice.

“At least, this way we’ll find out what they were trying to keep a secret from us,” Aelita calmly suggested, as she approached the psychic brunette.

Cassidy stood from her bed, taking a deep breath. “You’re right. This mystery is chewing me alive.”

“It’s _chewing_ you?” Odd repeated, jokingly. “You must be the biggest stick of gum I’ve ever seen, Cat Girl!”

That did it. The brunette started laughing, clenching her sides. “Oh… Odd, you’re crazy…”

“And you’ve known me _how long_?” he chuckled.

Once Cassidy had calmed down, she and the others, Odd grabbing Kiwi, left their things behind on their respective beds, and made their way out of the dormitory building. The ten began to get quite curious, as they approached the gym.

“What could they possibly be needing us down there for?” Aelita wondered, tilting her head one way, while looking the other direction at Jeremie.

“With Jim, you never can tell,” he answered.

“Considering we’re still cadets in his commando camp, Einstein, my mind’s randomly pinpointing that we are going to be in an exercise regime.” Cassidy shook her head, trying not to believe her thoughts.

“At this time of evening?” Ulrich asked. “Not even Pencak Silat was scheduled at this time. The sky’s not dark.”

“Maybe it doesn’t have to be,” Yumi suggested. “Maybe he’s having the course an hour early, because they’re planning to use the gym for something else, at the regular time.”

As the ten continued to walk, they noticed Milly randomly come running up from the administration building, before stopping in front of the gym’s doors.

“Milly? What’s going on? Everyone sure is acting weird around here,” Cassidy asked as she approached the young reporter.

“Welcome, Cassidy!” Milly greeted her, a smile upon her face. “You’re just in time! The party’s just about to begin!”

 “Party?”

“We just need to get you all dressed up for it,” she nodded.

The ten looked at each other, sharing raised eyebrows, and looks of confusion.

“What do you mean, Milly?” she asked her young friend. “When we tried to worm the information out of Hiroki, he acted as though he kissed you but wanted to keep it to himself.”

Now it was Milly’s turn to be confused, as her cheeks gained a slight rosy tint. “Huh? What do you mean?”

“We saw him run past the cafeteria earlier,” Yumi pointed out. “He was nervous and sweating, always dodging our questions.”

“Then Jim made us go to our HQ,” Odd quipped.

“He said something about supplies, but we didn’t understand a word,” Jeremie spoke next.

“Umm… well…” Milly’s eyes darted toward the grass below her feet, before returning her gaze to the Warriors. “That was for the party! The one we need to get you all dressed up for. We can’t have you go in wearing just anything, you know!”

“Yeah, that’s true. We’re in our everyday wear, and maybe I should’ve gone upstairs to get my party dress,” Sissi noted under her breath.

“Don’t worry, Sissi, we’ve made a wonderful dress for you,” she smiled.

Before anyone could reply, the pig-tailed girl led each of the ten inside, one by one. As they walked in, they entered a dimly lit area, segmented off from the rest of the gym with curtains. Following Milly, the boys wandered into one room, while the girls were led into another. The lights brightened once they entered, revealing that they were inside the locker rooms for each gender, with some of their classmates eagerly awaiting to help them into their party outfits.

Within the girls’ locker room, Cassidy immediately recognized a familiar face, waiting for her.

“Emily! It’s so good to see you,” the psychic brunette smiled, noticing the girl was holding an interesting outfit in her hands. “I haven’t seen you since we came back from the hospital and we saw you walking past.”

“It’s great to see you up and walking again, Cassidy,” she bowed her head, a grin adorning her features. “Ready to get dressed?”

“Of course. A party is a formal occasion after all. We should dress to impress.”

“Great, just close your eyes, and I’ll help you get it on,” Emily nodded.

“I get a bit curious at times, if you remember.” She closed her eyes.

“Then this should help take care of that.” Before she knew it, the psychic brunette felt her glasses be removed and a swatch of cloth gently pressing against her eyelids, which Emily gently tied behind her head, blindfolding her.

“I haven’t been this way in ages. Not since my last birthday,” she giggled.

“I’ll have to remove it later on, but for now, it’ll do,” the often-plagued-by-horrendous-nightmares girl smiled. “I’ll have you sit down for a bit.”

The psychic brunette began to feel around for a bench to sit upon, but being as she was without sight for the moment, it proved to be a difficult task.

It wasn’t long before Emily walked over, and Cassidy soon felt a pair of hands gently take hold of her arms. “Here, let me help you.”

She nodded, as she felt herself being guided toward a bench, and gently lowered down onto it. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay. Now I’m going to remove your tennis shoes, okay?”

After her tennis shoes, shirt, and pants had been replaced, her hair undone, and gloves slid over her hands, Cassidy was soon ready to go.

“I need to do your makeup. I’ll remove your blindfold, but keep those eyes shut for me, please,” Emily announced.

The psychic brunette nodded. Moments later, she soon felt the soft cloth pull away from her head, uncovering her eyelids; however, they remained closed, true to her word.

In a matter of minutes, in a process that reminded her of the Subdigitals concert she and Aelita opened for, Emily had gently applied the appropriate amount of makeup to Cassidy’s face, before replacing her glasses.

“Okay, you’re ready to party,” she smiled. “Why don’t you open your eyes?”

The psychic brunette opened her eyes, slightly shaking off the blurriness from having them being shut so long, looking around at what her impromptu “stylist” had done to her. What she saw excited her greatly. “Wow…”

“Would you like to see your face, Cassidy?” Emily asked, a smile growing on her features.

The psychic brunette nodded, an excited grin blossoming on her own face.

Opening the locker in front of her, Emily revealed the mirror. “There you go.”

Her jaw dropped, admiring the handiwork. The makeup was spot-on accurate. How did Emily know?

“Like it? It took me a while to figure out the accurate shades,” the girl Ulrich hung out with at one point admitted.

“It’s so… exact and everything,” Cassidy whispered. “I love it!”

As she admired her appearance, another voice made its way into her ear.

“What’s so amazing, Cassidy?” It was Aelita. Walking over, Cassidy was shocked to find her appearance had been practically transformed, as well; she was wearing a familiar pink-and-off-white ensemble, her ears had pointed extensions, complete with a familiar bauble-like earring on her left lobe, and facial markings that she couldn’t help but recognize. She looked exactly the way she did, before Jeremie changed her outfit on Lyoko. The newly-transformed elf’s eyes widened, pleasantly surprised to see the similar transformation Cassidy had gone through.

“Look at you,” Aelita smiled. “It’s amazing, isn’t it?”

She giggled. “Yes! I love it!”

Another familiar face soon joined in, sending looks of excitement and surprise to Aelita’s and Cassidy’s faces. It was Yumi, who had also undergone a similar makeover, turning her into the geisha she once was; face paint, incorrectly-folded kimono, obi, hair done, and all.

“Wow!” she exclaimed, a surprised grin overtaking her face. “You two look incredible!”

“You look amazing, too, Yumi!” Cassidy pointed out. “Emily was dead-on accurate.”

“Tamiya did a wonderful job with me,” Yumi remarked.

“And Milly took over for me,” Aelita giggled.

The door abruptly opened, revealing Christophe M’Bala. “Emily, you’re needed in the boys’ locker room now. Odd’s just about ready.”

“Oh, that’s my cue, girls. Keep admiring yourselves, okay?” Emily smiled as she packed up her makeup kit and left the girls.

“Who would have guessed that they would get our outfits correct,” the geisha smiled, looking at her sleeves.

“I can’t believe it, either!” Aelita replied, excitedly admiring her own costume.

Cassidy nodded. “I was a bit confused at times, but I felt that she knew what she was doing.”

Yumi smiled in agreement, moments before her eyes happened upon what appeared to be a pink-colored version of the outfit Cassidy was currently wearing.

“Look over there!” she immediately pointed toward it with her right index finger. “That looks like your outfit from the time the Supercomputer got bugged  up.”

“Well what do you know?” the psychic smiled, noticing the costume. “Wow… And they got the chest symbol right both ways, too!”

A new voice met the ears of the admiring three. “Our costumes do look perfect.” It was Kaitlyn, walking over in her assassin’s outfit, Sissi (in her red dress) in tow. “I wonder how Ulrich, Odd, Patrick, Jeremie, and William are reacting to their outfits, too. And what about Kiwi?”

“The world would never know, if I hadn’t unleashed the monster.” Cassidy blushed beneath the makeup.

Meanwhile, in the boys’ locker room, a few of the male students, along with Emily, were putting the finishing touches on Ulrich’s, Odd’s, Patrick’s and William’s costumes. However, one of the boys was somewhat displeased with his appearance.

“Why pink?! I never dreamed of pink things. That’s my cousin’s job!” Patrick protested, looking suited up as a pink-haired warrior with blue and violet strands. A headband of fake pony ears settled upon his crown. His outfit was armor, to his delight, but the color did not suit his tastes.

Jeremie’s eyes widened, the boy dressed in his old baby-sky blue turtleneck and tan pants without the blue lines, with a communicator in his ear, as redness began to fill his cheeks. “I’ll fix that as soon as I can. I’m not at my computer at the moment.”

“You’d better!” Odd remarked, quietly chuckling as he heard the Edward Cullen of a cousin bad-mouth his costume. “Not even the monsters will take him seriously!”

“Yeah, the Krabes will take one look at him, and fall backward onto their shells, kicking their legs in the air, until one of us stabs or shoots them, or they fall off the platform into the Digital Sea,” Ulrich quipped.

“I have never seen Cassidy so unsure about what to do when that happened,” Jeremie noted.

“Even when XANA had control of me,” William spoke up, admiring his own outfit, which was essentially his silvery-white appearance during his first mission as a Lyoko Warrior, “I felt like I couldn’t take you seriously, either, Patrick. Anyway, I’m sure glad I’m not in that outfit XANA gave me, yet.”

“It’s okay, William,” Patrick smiled. “At least it slowed you down.”

“I couldn’t even flirt with Cassidy under his control because I was laughing too hard,” the black-haired boy chuckled.

“Speaking of outfits,” Ulrich soon found himself distracted by his own, “can you believe how accurate they are?! I feel like I’m on Lyoko!”

“You can say that again, Ulrich. I have three outfits to my name—and one of them was what I saw in the vortex,” Odd smiled, looking at the chestplate of Kiwi peeing on a rock.

As if his mere glance was a trigger, the dog in question walked over to the wildcard, and glanced up at the chestplate. He let out a surprised bark, once he recognized what it was.

“Oh, it’s okay, Kiwi. It’s just a picture of you, so I can always have my little diggity-dog with me, even on Lyoko,” Odd reassured.

Slowly, the dog’s tail began to wag, as he calmed down, confident in what Odd had told him. Even Ulrich couldn’t help but grin at this sight.

“The girls are ready,” Emily announced.

“Alright!” Odd raised his fist, which was covered by a glove, into the air. “I can’t wait to see how the girls look, especially _mi novia_.”

“I can’t wait to see how Aelita looks,” Jeremie admitted.

“I bet she looks great,” Ulrich smiled. “And I’ll bet Yumi looks great, too.”

“I hope Cassidy doesn’t get freaked out when she sees me,” William fretted. “I was the last person she saw when I got rid of her during the destruction—and I’m not proud of that.”

“Don’t worry, William,” Jeremie attempted to reassure the black-haired boy. “I’m sure she’ll be fine.”

With perfect timing, Jim soon walked into the boys’ locker room. “Okay, kids! We’re going to take this as a stage production. Except you don’t have a script.” He chuckled slightly. “Improvise a line if you feel the need to. And remember, have fun! This is in your honor!”

Odd smiled. “ _¡No hay problema, Señor Jim!_ ”

Jim tried to hide the fact that he only had a vague idea of what the wildcard had told him. “Yes, well… I’ll go and see if the girls are ready.”

With that, he left the boys’ locker room, and walked into the girls’, his gaze turning toward the Lyoko Warriors, a grin on his face.

“Are you ready to get out there, ladies?” Jim asked.

To everyone's shock, Cassidy nodded, a smile growing on her facial features. “I am.”

At first, the burly gym teacher grasped at mental straws. Had the makeup fumes gone to her head? If that had really been Cassidy, she would have instantly gotten stage fright, possibly requiring Odd, Yumi, Aelita, or any of her other friends to alleviate the situation. Instead, she looked like she was ready to go. Did his commando camp give her more courage and self-esteem than he originally assumed? Or was she just on a natural high, because she was wearing an exact replica of her old Lyoko outfit? Something did not add up.

“Are you sure, McGuire? There's a big crowd out there.”

“I think so. I don't want to kill the mood because of some fear,” she nodded.

“Okay, but if it overwhelms you at all, you can go into the locker room for a nice breather,” he reassured her, smiling.

She grinned appreciatively. “Thanks, Jim.”

Yumi nodded. “Everything is perfect! They even got my patterns right.”

“And my outfit as well,” Aelita commented, walking up next to the geisha as she admired her sleeves once more. “I can’t wait to get out there. Is everyone else ready?”

“Let's go out there and have some fun,” Sissi said.

“Yeah!” Kaitlyn and Cassidy chorused in agreement, cackling as they realized they did so.

The geisha rolled her eyes, an amused smile growing upon her features. She thought back to the day the psychic brunette woke up. Odd had compared her hair color with Ulrich's, while Jeremie agreed that they were more likened to siblings, rather than friends, when they fought. However, the more the female cousin and Cassidy spoke in unison, the more a tiny thought began to arise within her mind: _Could the two have been separated at birth?_

However, to answer her friend's question, she nodded. “I'm ready.”

“Then, let’s go!” Jim gestured toward the door, as he began to leave. “Follow me! We’ll meet up with the boys, so you can all be ready to go on, when you get your cues.”

One by one, the costumed Warriors made their way out of the locker room, following the burly gym teacher down a dimly-lit makeshift corridor. At the same time, Theo led the boys out of the other locker room, the two groups soon converging in a small, improvised holding area. Each of the Warriors’ eyes widened, as they beheld the costumes the others were wearing.

“C-C-C-Cassidy?!” Odd exclaimed. “I-i-i-is that really you?!”

“Yeah, Odd. And it looks like Emily was accurate with your makeup, too,” she smiled.

Nearby, Ulrich found himself utterly speechless, as he took turn after turn, looking at every inch of Yumi. It was like the clock had been turned backward, and she had reverted to her original geisha outfit. She looked so beautiful and amazing to him, his tongue twisted itself into knots, preventing him from devising a suitable compliment.

“Wow…” he squeaked out. “Yumi…!”

Across from him, Yumi was making similar motions, as she was in a similar state of surprise at the sight of Ulrich’s old outfit, but had an easier time replying. “You look pretty amazing, too… samurai.”

Aelita found herself chuckling behind her hand at Ulrich’s inability to form a coherent sentence, finding the entire debacle quite cute.

Jeremie was quite amazed, as well; for a moment, he began to think that his friends, or at least Odd, had finally gotten their wish to bring him to Lyoko with them, without having to worry about XANA ruining the party. Every single one of his friends stood before him dressed exactly the way they had, before he, Aelita, and Cassidy had rebuilt Lyoko, and he had reprogrammed their outfits. The admiration welling up within him threatened to overload his brain, as a gigantic grin sprawled out across his face. Even his darling, beloved pink princess looked exactly the way she did when he first found her, three years or so ago.

For William, it was a reminder of a time not so long ago, one that he still regretted to that day, despite having slight fond memories of, regardless. It was almost like his first trip to Lyoko all over again, only this time he had no fear of possession by the Schyphozoa. Still, he couldn’t resist admiring the others’ costumes, especially Yumi’s and Cassidy’s.

The psychic brunette looked at the silver Warrior, her cheeks flooding red. To her, this was a gigantic reminder of the last time they tried to save Lyoko, before its destruction, and subsequent rebuild. Here was William, in all his silver and sky blue glory, looking exactly the way he did when she first saw him. All she could think about was the kiss that froze her completely, culminating in her failure to save the Core of Lyoko. It was as if everything else had frozen in place.

“Wow, William… you… you… uh…” she managed to squeak out, her knees threatening to become numb.

“You’re...pretty cool, too,” he grinned sheepishly.

As the psychic brunette continued to fumble around, Odd and Yumi quickly came up to her sides, bookending her.

“You okay, Cat Girl?” Odd inquired, placing a concerned hand on her left shoulder, as Yumi placed hers on her right.

Cassidy nodded, slowly returning to Earth, in a matter of speaking. “I guess I’m not over my awkward phase.”

“It’s just a question of time,” Yumi reassured.

“Yeah,” Odd agreed. “Even William says it’s not gonna happen again.”

The psychic brunette took a deep breath. “I know, but I guess some habits die hard.”

While Cassidy tried to relax, Ulrich was finally calming down, his tongue untying itself, allowing him to form coherent sentences, once more. He soon found his way over to the psychic brunette, coming up next to Odd.

“Yeah, don’t worry, Cassidy,” he soothed. “I feel as though William is truly sorry for what he did, and no matter what he might feel, he won’t ever do that to you, again.”

Ulrich’s reassurances struck a chord within her. She knew how big the samurai was on trust, and if he said that William wasn’t going to do that again, combined with the word from her friends, she felt as though she could trust in it. The psychic brunette soon took a deep, cleansing breath, aided by Yumi’s soft back rub, and Odd’s and Ulrich’s soft shoulder rubs.

On the other side of the divider walls, an array of lights kicked on over a stage, upon which the principal, Jean-Pierre Delmas stood, microphone in hand. This caused the chatter from the students in the audience to slowly begin to subside.

“Dear students and faculty, both former and current, these past few months have been, well, a whirlwind to us all,” he announced. “Between the series of events befalling several of our beloved students, to the addition of the extra room in the dormitory building, I think you will agree that things have become quite, for lack of a better word, interesting.”

While the Warriors stood, staring at each other as they listened to the principal’s introduction, a familiar face slowly stepped into the holding area, before walking over to Jeremie.

“Sophie?!” Cassidy squeaked, remembering the woman who shooed away Milly and Tamiya when they tried to hassle an interview from her and Aelita. _Is the next series of events what I think it is?_

“Hello, Cassidy,” she smiled. “It’s good to see you again. Fans are still raving about the duet you and Aelita did together. It’s being made into a hidden track in our next CD album.”

A rosy tint rose within the psychic brunette’s cheeks. “I-It was nothing.”

“It certainly was more than nothing,” she added, “but I’ll have to tell you more about that, later.”

She then approached the blond genius. “Jeremie, they’re calling for you to come out onto the stage. Follow me.”

A sudden sting of butterflies struck him as he looked up at Sophie. “Uh… okay.”

Nearby, the elven warrior couldn’t help but giggle, as she watched the two duck between a pair of curtains. All she could think about was hers and Cassidy’s own fears of going out on stage, during the Subdigitals concert; regardless of the blond genius’ reassuring, encouraging words, to see him experience a similar phenomenon when it was his turn was nothing short of hilarious to her.

While she giggled, out of Jeremie’s earshot, Sophie led the blond genius out onto the makeshift stage from behind, before gently pushing him up the stairs, the boy blinking a few times as he stepped under the bright lights.

“Jeremie Belpois, on behalf of the entire Academy, I hand you the honors,” the principal smiled.

“Uh… w-what should I say?!” he asked, a pang of nerves settling in his heart.

“Why, say what you normally say when you put your friends into battle,” he chuckled. “In any order you wish.”

Taking a deep breath, he slowly began to smile. “Transfer, Aelita! Transfer, Kaitlyn! Transfer, Cassidy! Transfer, Odd! Transfer, Yumi! Transfer, Ulrich! Transfer, Sissi! Transfer, William! Transfer, Patrick! Transfer, Kiwi! Scanner, Aelita! Scanner, Kaitlyn! Scanner, Cassidy! Scanner, Odd! Scanner, Yumi! Scanner, Ulrich! Scanner, Sissi! Scanner, William! Scanner, Patrick! Scanner, Kiwi! Virtualization!”

Mere moments after he spoke the final word, the curtains behind the stage quickly and immediately lifted, as another array of lights was switched on overhead, illuminating the ten Lyoko Warriors who had been hidden behind them. The crowd of students and faculty immediately began to cheer.

“OUR HEROES!”

The Warriors’ eyes widened, as they gazed upon the audience of kids, teens, and adults that lined the bleachers, all cheering for them.

 “Wow…” Ulrich, Odd, William, and Kaitlyn squeaked, filled with surprise and awe.

“Even my powers couldn’t predict this,” Cassidy blushed.

“Come on over, and don’t be afraid to run around,” Jim smiled. “We have more in store.”

As they raced around to separate spots, Jim turned off to one side, shouting, “HIT IT!”

Suddenly, another array of overhead lights was switched on over another nearby stage, upon which stood a drum kit and three stands, one holding a microphone, the other two holding an electric and a bass guitar, immediately to their left. As this happened, three faces, familiar to most of the Warriors, immediately took to the stage, picking up their respective instruments. As they began to play, it became clear: it was none other than the Subdigitals, as _Break Away_ began to waft from the gym’s overhead speakers.

“This… I…” the psychic brunette blinked, feeling as though she tiptoed onto Cloud Nine.

“Ooh,” Sissi squeaked, glancing over at Cassidy, starting to worry about her “sister”. “Are you okay, my sister?”

“I think I’ll be okay, Sister. This is just…unbelievable…” Her face contorted into an excited grin.

“To commemorate this wondrous achievement,” Jean-Pierre continued, as the din died down, “this illustrious academy would like to extend special gratitude to all the occasions you and your friends have saved the school, not to mention the entire world. All failing grades have been dropped in favor for those that were higher. Any detentions you have received that hindered your progress in your battle with XANA have been forgiven. All unexcused or unexplained absences have also been excused.”

The ten immediately shared looks of excitement and relief, incredibly overjoyed that their random “trips to the infirmary” would no longer be held against them.

“And any time you need to save the world, you don’t need to pass Go and collect 189 Euro Bills, kids,” Jim announced, gently taking the mic from the principal. “Just go from the room and run to the factory. Saving the world is hard work.”

“And it has been, Jim,” Jeremie nodded. “I don’t know how we can ever thank you, or Mr. Delmas, for this.”

While the others’ excitement continued to grow at an exponential rate, Cassidy couldn’t help but feel incredibly overwhelmed. Everything that was happening, from the cheering audience, to the Subdigitals, and Mr. Delmas’ forgiveness for every single one of their absences conspired together to overload the psychic brunette’s brain. Her eyes quickly darted toward the back of the stage, before running in that direction, heading toward the girls’ locker room, as Yumi and Sissi suddenly glanced in her direction, looks of worry and concern overtaking their features.

Their fears turned out to be completely well-founded, as once she had reached the safety of the girls’ locker rooms, Cassidy began hyperventilating, the overload of excitement taking its toll. She had never expected all of this to happen at the same time, and while she was incredibly pleased, it had become too much for her to bear, at that moment.

“H-holy cow…” she gasped out. “I know the monster had revealed s-such things, b-but…”

After trying to catch her breath for a moment, Yolanda entered the locker room, a look of concern plastered across her face as she approached the psychic brunette. “Cassidy, are you okay?”

“Y-Yolanda, it’s just y-you,” Cassidy panted. “I t-thought I-I could handle t-this…”

“Don’t worry, dear… it’s alright,” she soothed, as she began to softly and slowly rub her back with one hand, while placing the other below her chest. “Just take a few deep breaths. Try to forget all about what’s going on outside.”

At first, the task proved daunting, as though someone tied ropes to the bottoms of her lungs. As the nurse slowly continued to rub her back, and she continued to inhale and exhale deeply, she soon recovered her will to breathe, feeling her heart slowly return to its normal speed.

“There, feeling better, hm?” she smiled.

“Much. I guess I overheat more easily now than how I would be able to process everything then,” Cassidy said. “Ooh… now I really feel as though I’m ruining everyone’s fun!”

“No, you’re not,” the nurse calmly rebutted. “Everyone out there cares about you, especially your friends. Nobody wants to overload you, like this. They’ll only be happy when you’re happy.”

“And I’m honored, really, I am. This assembly, the forgiveness, everything is great. I want to be happy with them, but there have been so many changes, I’m having a hard time keeping up with them all. I do want to have fun with them, too, because I love having fun. I used to want to have fun before XANA attacked, but what if… what if I’m starting to become too serious? I don’t want to hurt them by having them stop,” she bemoaned.

“Maybe you’re worrying too much, dear. I’m sure they’ll understand if all of this overwhelms you. You could always wait until the Subdigitals finish their song, and then go back out, if you feel up to it. Or we could always figure something out. This assembly is in your honor, so I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch if you have a few special requests.”

“True. I have been sliding toward anxiety since William had gotten possessed, exhaustion because of my nightmares, and whatnot, that I’m forgetting to let go once in a while. I loved the spa day that Sissi set up for us. Maybe I need to just go with it for now and let my mind rest for today. I think my heart hasn’t been listened to enough,” she realized.

“That sounds like a very good idea,” the nurse agreed, smiling reassuringly. “From the sounds of things, you have been overworking your mind. It’s good to calm your mind every so often, especially when you’re needlessly worrying over things that may not be in your control.”

“You’re right. Plus my powers have been giving me reason to worry about so many subjects for so long, I guess my brain isn’t used to the quietness before my powers kicked online the first time.”

“If you’ve been constantly using your powers, I can see how that might affect your brain’s ability to operate without them.”

“My powers worked on their own more than me actually using them, in all honesty. It just got hard for me to dig up necessary information for my friends to use when it was locked.”

Yolanda nodded. “Then I can definitely see how hard it might be for your brain to operate without them, at least at first.”

“Is everything okay, Yolanda?” a new voice wafted into the airwaves. It was Yumi, walking into the locker room with a look of concern painting her expression, Sissi following suit.

“Will Cassidy be okay?” the principal’s daughter asked.

“She’ll be just fine,” a smile graced the nurse’s features as she turned to address the former snob. “She just had a bit of an overload, that’s all. She’s calmed down for the most part, but we’re still waiting to make sure she relaxes completely, before she goes back out there.”

Sissi walked up next to Yolanda, and placed her hands upon Cassidy’s shoulders. “If you’re overwhelmed, I can ask the Subdigitals to stop playing, and we can turn some of the lights down. I don’t want you to have a meltdown, dear sister.”

“I think I’ll be okay, Sister. I just need to let my heart lead the way,” she smiled. “Besides, what’s a celebration without music and lights?”

“If it’s one that will help you stay calm,” Yumi interjected, “then it’s a celebration we can all enjoy, without worry.”

“Yumi’s right,” the principal’s daughter agreed. “I’m sure everyone will agree with us, as well. Your health comes first, dear sister. Don’t go trying to act like Ulrich, now, you hear me?”

“I’m not. Besides, I love the Subdigitals,” the psychic brunette giggled.

Yumi slowly began to smile, even though she still felt a bit unsure. “We could have them turn the speakers down; I’m sure they won’t mind.”

“I’m used to loudspeakers that make my bra vibrate against my chest. My old school sometimes held concerts. One member of a band from long ago did a trick that Odd would definitely like to do if I ever told him.”

“Oh, yeah? What’s that?”

“He jumped onto a double stacked speaker, as though he was a specter. It was just so cool. The guy was on the floor, and then within a moment, he was there, like magic!” Cassidy giggled. “It was so cool.”

The geisha soon found Cassidy’s grin quite contagious, as her own completely blossomed upon her face. Even Sissi soon felt more relaxed, gaining her own smile in the process.

“Then, we’ll stay here with you,” Yumi commented, walking closer to the psychic brunette, “until you feel like you can go back out with the others. Everyone will understand.”

“That sounds good. Besides, my mind is making me feel like I should worry, when in reality it shouldn’t feel this way,” Cassidy nodded, adding with a scoff, “It’s acting as though Brynja Heringsdötir had just come back.”

“My Icelandic pen pal?” Sissi’s expression morphed into one of bewilderment. “She’s long gone! Probably back in Iceland, by now! But I saw what she did to you, and it makes me glad that I sent her to my cousin, when I did!”

“I swear that my math was nonsensical. It just...I don’t know, she—ugh…”

“She had that effect on everyone. I loved how everyone just crowded around us at first, but when I found out they only wanted to see her, I started to see how much of a terrible idea it was to bring her to Kadic.”

Before Sissi could continue, Yolanda began to softly rub Cassidy’s back once more, as Yumi placed her hand on one of the psychic brunette’s shoulders, the principal’s daughter moving one of hers to make room.

“There, there,” the nurse cooed. “I think you need to relax, once more. We should change the subject.”

“Remember when you had fun killing MegaTanks?” Yumi asked, heeding the nurse’s suggestion.

“Oh, how can I forget? That was the greatest day ever! I almost had Franz protected, and that was nearly my proudest moment, especially when he helped me when it minutely felt like I was going to be physically overwhelmed,” Cassidy giggled. “I know I don’t like to talk about my record, considering the circumstances, but Tracy was right about how it could’ve used some bragging.”

Sissi giggled, remembering the threat one of Cassidy’s clones ended up spouting. “And she almost thought I would be great as a hammer throw.”

“She was great, though, wasn’t she? A bit over-the-top, but good nonetheless.”

“You’re getting her relaxed, girls,” Yolanda smiled.

“Too bad Chessy wasn’t as confident as Tracy was,” Yumi noted.

“Chessy was my depressed side, remember? Tracy made Jeremie uncomfortable.”

Sissi squeezed her eyes closed, her grin threatening to unleash a stream of laughs. “He almost looked as though she would make him tango with her.”

“As if I would make him dance with me when I know he’s with Aelita. That would not end well. I would hate for them to break up.”

“Oh, remember when you made her laugh at Ulrich’s confusion?” the former snob giggled.

“I gave confusing advice back then, but yes. I swore that hearing her laugh was my heaven to know that she was alive. She deserves Einstein, but I can’t help but think she’s cute when she laughs, sleeps peacefully, or smiles, and even her wings on Lyoko made me think of what you told me, as well, Yumi,” she smiled. “She’s more of an angel than I am.”

Yumi giggled, a grin blooming upon her face. “I understand. I’m sure Jeremie thinks so, too. But you’re an angel, as well.”

“I really don’t think I am. I didn’t ask Jeremie to program me wings,” she remarked. “And I kept them, once I realized their practicality after the first run-through.”

Sissi cast a surprised gaze upon her “sister.” “He should’ve programmed wings for all of you! So nobody would have to fall into the Digital Water!”

The geisha and the psychic brunette giggled. “Digital _Sea_ , Sissi.”

“Oh, that’s right! Thank you!” The former snob gained a sheepish grin.

Nearby, Yolanda watched Cassidy laugh and smile with her friends, noticing she no longer seemed overwhelmed.

“Do you think that you’re ready to return now?” the nurse smiled.

Cassidy nodded. “I feel better now that I’m thinking of good times.”

Pleased that the psychic brunette had made a recovery with their help, Yumi, Sissi, and Yolanda followed her out of the girls’ locker room, and back through the makeshift corridor. Once they had reached the stage, their collective eyes slightly widened to find Jeremie, Odd, Ulrich, Patrick, and William tending to female classmates and faculty members, all wanting their respective autographs.

The sight of such things made Cassidy giggle. “What happened here?”

William turned his head in the direction of the voice, his face rising once he realized who it was.

“Hey, Cass! You feeling better?”

“Yeah, just needed some breathing room,” she smiled.

Ulrich grinned, glancing at her out of the corners of his eyes. “That’s great! After the Subdigitals got done with their song, Odd, William, Patrick, Kaitlyn, and I pretended we were on Lyoko, fighting off XANA’s monsters, before Aelita play-deactivated a tower. Right after we did that, the crowd ran up to us, and wanted our autographs. Be careful; they might want yours, too, and we don’t want you getting overwhelmed again.”

“That’s a good thing to know.”

No sooner had he mentioned this, than a familiar voice re-entered Cassidy’s ear, once more.

“Cassidy?” It was Milly, offering her a pen and notebook, which was opened to a blank page. “Could we have your autographs?”

“Yeah, can we?” Tamiya, standing next to her, joined in as well with a similar offering.

“I think Sissi’s speech fell on deaf ears,” she grinned sheepishly, gently taking the redhead’s pen and writing her name. _Still counted as weird with my peers, check._

As she wrote, Sissi walked up behind her, and began to softly rub her back.

“Don’t worry, dear sister,” she cooed, reassuringly. “It’s only Milly and Tamiya, and they understand.”

“Yeah, I just am surprised that it’s only them. I think that the others still think I’m weird, despite the fact that you want things to be different.”

“Maybe they’re just busy?” she offered, attempting to reassure her further. “They might be hung up with all the boys. I’m sure you’ve got more fans than you think!”

“True.”

Not far from the two, Yumi was quickly finding out that she also had quite a few fans, as Theo, two other boys, Maetina, and three other girls had surrounded her, clamoring for her autograph. The geisha looked over at the psychic brunette, momentarily looking away from the notebook in her hand, giving her a comforting, reassuring smile.

Once she had returned Tamiya’s notebook and pen, the two walked away, grins painting their faces. They were soon followed by Hiroki and Johnny, both bearing grins of their own, along with notebooks and pens.

“Hey, Cassidy!” Hiroki grinned, as the two held out their notebooks and pens without a second thought.

“I knew you were hot, Cassidy, but I didn’t know you were on fire!” Johnny beamed dreamily.

“I’m not Katniss Everdeen by any stretch, but I understand you feel that way,” Cassidy smiled, signing Hiroki’s first, then dotting her I’s with hearts in the brown-haired boy’s notebook next.

To her chagrin, after the boys had left, no one else, other than the teachers, came over to ask for her signature next. This surprised her greatly; every single one of her friends had plenty of fans asking for their autographs, and here she was, feeling like she had been thrown aside like a smelly sock. Did everyone assume too much excitement would get to her? Were they assuming they were “playing it safe” by avoiding her? Or did half the student body still think she was a freak?

As she pondered this, Sissi happened to get a reprieve from her own autograph signing after Nicholas and Hervé had left, and glanced over in Cassidy’s direction. A look of fear overtook her features, as she witnessed the abject rejection in her “sister’s” eyes.

Taking a short amount of time to do the math in her head, as she noticed the lack of fans surrounding the psychic brunette, her gaze scanned the entire immediate area, taking note of how many others had gathered around Yumi, Ulrich, Odd, and even Jeremie. Thinking quickly, her face rose as she approached the purple ninja-cat.

“Odd, do you think you can help me with something?” Sissi inquired hopefully.

Odd handed back the notebook and pen he was holding in his paw gloves, before turning his head toward the principal’s daughter. “Sure!”

The former snob pointed her thumb backward at Cassidy. “Do you see my sister over there?! She’s a part of your group, and yet no one is swarming her.”

In reply, the ninja-cat took a glance in the direction Sissi pointed, before concern overtook the grin his face once held.

“Huh?” he replied, surprised. “Where is everybody?”

“That’s what I was about to ask you, Odd, honey. She looks pretty lonely over there.”

While Sissi confronted Odd, Yumi also happened to take a glance toward the psychic brunette, her own face falling once she noticed the lack of a crowd around her. To her, it didn’t feel right. Cassidy had helped not only her, but every single one of them, in more than one way. To see her without anyone clamoring for her autograph felt wrong. If everyone had seen the vortex, surely they would have known of Cassidy’s deeds and exploits, and how they stretched far beyond the psychic brunette merely taking the Digital Sea fall for her. Her eyes turned back toward the girls and boys that awaited her autograph, before a small smirk started to grow. She had an idea.

“Hey, Naomi, Cassidy had her arms frozen for me when Brynja came to town,” Yumi sang quietly as she handed back the girl’s notebook.

Naomi raised an eyebrow, confused. “Why did she do that?”

“She didn’t want me to get that way, so she took it for me,” she smiled.

The brunette glanced over at Cassidy, still slightly skeptical. “Hmm…”

“Not only that,” Yumi added, feeling the girl needed further convincing, “she’s saved all of us numerous times. She’s a real hero of our team.”

“But she had Nicholas take the position of drummer when you all were the Pop Rock Progressives for a while,” she accused.

“Well, uh…” the geisha paused momentarily, searching for a tactful way to reply, “if we needed a backup drummer, like if Nicholas got detention before a concert, we would have come to you.”

Naomi raised her other eyebrow. “Okay…”

“Besides, I think she would really appreciate it if you went up to her and asked for her autograph, too. She’s signed all the teachers’ and four others,” Yumi suggested.

The brunette’s eyes darted toward Cassidy, once more, as if she was contemplating Yumi’s suggestion. After thinking about it for a few seconds, a calm smile soon graced her features.

“Okay,” she agreed, nodding.

“Thanks, Naomi.”

While Yumi conversed with Naomi, Odd was watching from the sidelines, grinning at the effectiveness of the geisha’s tactic. Turning back to the students that had surrounded him, he devised his own version of Yumi’s plan.

“Hey, Magali, did you know that Cassidy saved me from being kicked out of class?” Odd asked.

Copying Yumi’s scenario nearly exactly, Magali’s eyes widened. “She did?”

“I was about to give a joke about Ragnarok and Roll, but she told me not to.”

She was surprised. “They were gonna kick you out over _that?”_

“Mr. Fumet is very strict, and would have done that,” he nodded.

“I’m sure he would have,” she folded her arms, “especially since that was a terrible joke, anyway.”

“I definitely agree, so wouldn’t you be a sweetie and ask her for her John Hancock?” Odd asked.

She nodded and walked over.

Standing near Odd, Ulrich had overheard the ninja-cat’s entire conversation with Magali, as he continued signing autographs. As she had walked away from him, the samurai reached a moment of reprieve, as he handed another student’s notebook back to her, before turning his head toward Odd.

“Hey Odd, what are you trying to pull, anyway?” he inquired, sounding skeptical.

“Helping Cat Girl,” he replied, before pointing a paw in the psychic brunette’s direction. “See that? She’s barely got anyone around her, compared to us! I thought I’d send her a few fans, to make her feel better. Yumi’s doing the same thing.”

The samurai craned his neck in the psychic brunette’s direction, before his eyes widened in surprise. That was all he needed. He, too, couldn’t understand why Cassidy had fewer followers than himself, or any of the others. If Yumi and Odd could slowly work to change this, then that’s what he would do, as well.

“Hey, Bastien, I know you and Cassidy had been on rough terms with each other, but nothing would make her night happier if you would ask her for her autograph.”

Bastien folded his arms, his eyebrows falling. “Why should I?”

“She helped us out on Lyoko just like the rest of us,” he answered. “And you owe her an apology for yelling at her at the pool.”

The black-haired boy shook his head. “She was weird from the start. She acted like a horse in gym class. And I still can't see her as anything but.”

Ulrich’s eyebrows lowered, the samurai getting slightly angered by Bastien’s response. “Does she _look_ like a horse to you?! She’s gotten me out of so many jams I’ve lost count! I’m sure she’d do the same for you, no matter how stupid you think she is!”

“Look, Ulrich, as much as you want me to get her signature, she is still not anything but a dangerous psychic.”

The samurai clenched his fists as he closed his eyes. “She is _not_ a dangerous psychic!! She—!”

He suddenly caught himself, before any more words could be said. _This is a celebration for all of us,_ he reminded himself. _Cassidy would want me to calm down and have fun, so I shouldn’t yell at Bastien. Besides, he’s not worth it, anyway._

Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, Ulrich soon glared at the black-haired boy, having regained a fragment of his composure.

“Fine,” he remarked coldly. “Don’t get her autograph, then.”

He then turned his back to the boy, folding his arms, before continuing under his breath. “See her cry because she feels unloved, but she’s our roommate, and her pain will be shared by all of us.”

Moments after the samurai turned his back to Bastien, Sissi, who had overheard the entire conversation between the two, let out a squeak of surprise as she glanced over at Ulrich. Growling, her eyebrows fell as she walked over to the two, preparing to add her own two Euro coins to the situation.

“Hey, Bastien Roux! Who do you think you are, talking about my sister like that?!”

“McGuire is nothing but trouble to us all, Sissi! Kadic would be better off without her!”

Sissi clenched her fists in anger. “Actually, it would be better off without _you_! Did you ever think about _that_ , huh?!”

This made Bastien tense up, as fear grabbed hold of his face. “W-w-what?!”

“You're being nothing but a bully to my sister! Now, I have an ultimatum for _you_! Go over there and ask for her autograph, or I will tell my father that you need to be expelled for bullying.”

The fear that had gripped his face was soon complimented by beads of sweat, as he clenched his teeth. Even he knew how convincing Sissi could be, when her father, the principal, was involved. He didn’t want to risk anything that could get him thrown out of school. What would his mother say about that?

Nodding, he jerkily walked over to the psychic brunette.

“That's more like it!” Sissi smiled, satisfied with herself.

“Thanks a lot, Sissi!” Ulrich grinned. “He was really getting on my nerves.”

“He was getting on mine, too! Hmph!”

Having finally contributed to preventing Cassidy from feeling left out, it was soon Jeremie’s and Aelita’s turn to try and help, as well. The elven Warrior had watched her former first roommate’s displeasure from afar, while keeping it hidden behind a smile for her fans, while she and her knight in glasses signed autographs. Once Sissi had managed to convince another to approach the psychic brunette, she decided to join in, hoping Jeremie would follow suit. Glancing in the Einstein’s direction, she gestured toward Cassidy, hoping he would get the hint. He picked up on it quicker than she had anticipated, and it wasn’t long before the two had managed to send four more fans down toward the psychic brunette.

Soon, Cassidy autographed the same amount of fans as her friends had, a grin adorning her face. There was no need to worry about her getting overloaded. She enjoyed seeing Magali and Claire, a couple of Odd’s many exes, as they walked up to her. Julian Xao had actually apologized for his rude behavior when she, Aelita, and Jeremie needed some peace and quiet, giving her a gift he saved for her before letting her sign his notebook. Camille cradled her in a warm embrace, secretly having seen the psychic brunette as a sister, and never let go.

Yumi giggled. “I never knew that Camille would be so warm to Cassidy.”

“It looks like she enjoys it,” Aelita pointed out, smiling.

“She always looked at Cassidy when she was traumatized,” Jeremie noted. “Must be this was what she wanted to do, all along, but perhaps she felt too shy to approach, at first.”

“Yeah,” Sissi agreed.

While these events transpired, Kaitlyn and Patrick were experiencing some newfound fame of their own. Despite only having been at the school for several months, the two were surprised to find they had built up their own fan base, without realizing it before. The collective faces of the two bore excited, honored grins as they went back and forth, borrowing notebooks, signing autographs and returning them. To say that for them it was a rush would be an understatement.

 Heck, even Hiroki, Johnny, Milly, Tamiya, and Jim endured their own brand of heroism, even though the two girls had been scared the time the William clone led them to the factory. While they had initially forgotten about the events of that day, the vortex soon reminded them that they had even tried to interview the Warriors, prior to Jeremie causing them to lose the memories in the first place.

When all autographs had been signed, Mr. Delmas called for an intermission, for the costumed heroes to change into their new looks. The ten gave one extra wave to all of their fans, before ducking underneath the curtains behind the stage, and making their way through the makeshift corridor, toward their respective locker rooms, Emily, Theo, Milly, Tamiya, and the rest of the “stylists” following behind.

In the time span of roughly fifteen minutes, everyone except Sissi, Patrick, and Kaitlyn had their outfits and makeup changed to suit the way they looked, after Jeremie had reprogrammed their outfits. Ulrich’s samurai outfit was traded for his yellow-and-brown jumpsuit, gaining a second sword in the process; Yumi transformed from a geisha into a ninja, while Milly softly washed the makeup off from her face, before applying her pill-shaped second set of eyebrows; Odd’s ninja-cat outfit was taken off, replaced with a more catlike purple jumpsuit, fake cat ears placed upon his head; Aelita lost her pink-and-off-white clothing, in favor of a pink-and-purple jumpsuit with a translucent skirt, star-shaped pendant, fake yet authentic wings, and translucent shoulder pads; Jeremie was reunited with the outfit he wore that morning; William’s face fell as he felt his silver and blue jumpsuit being taken off from his body, replaced with the black and red XANA ensemble he had come to hate, feeling even worse as Emily gently drew a faint, white XANA symbol on his forehead; and Cassidy underwent a similar transformation that Odd went through, with a heart-shaped pendant and wings.

Once the ten were ready, the boys and girls each left their respective locker rooms, en route to the makeshift corridor outside. However, as Cassidy stepped out of the girls’ locker room, her eyes happened upon William, who had just left the boys’ locker room, leading the psychic brunette to nearly have a heart attack, almost as if his mere appearance gave her a form of PTSD. She clutched her chest, a distraught look overtaking her features as she quickly turned away, trembling as the flashbacks of Siberia plagued her mind. Alerted to her sudden change in behavior, Yumi and Aelita quickly jumped to the psychic brunette’s aid, while William covered his face with his hands, his guilt and anguish multiplying at the sight.

“I was afraid of this,” Aelita lamented, as she began to softly rub Cassidy’s back. “I’m sorry, William, but that costume gives Cassidy too many painful memories.”

“Emily! Why don't you have him change outfits,” Yumi suggested, getting fearful for her Savior as Kiwi started barking frantically. “Hurry!”

Emily’s jaw dropped. “But—”

“Don't question it! Just follow me,” William ordered as Milly walked out of the girls’ locker room. “Cassidy's having a panic attack!”

“She what?!” the redhead squawked, just as Ulrich got alerted.

“Milly, get Sissi and Camille,” the samurai calmly asked.

“Okay!” she quickly cried out, before darting through the curtains leading to the stage.

While her friends gathered around her, offering calming, soothing words and gentle back, side, and shoulder rubs, Cassidy hyperventilated, her mind contorting crazily at the thought of William wearing his XANAfied costume. It was as if her mind was locked into a constant loop of his appearance at the Siberian lab, and the state of abject fear it threw her into. She felt as though there was no escape; that she was locked into a small room, where he was the only other occupant, and the only way out was a locked door, that not even Jeremie could bypass. It was nearly the equivalent of claustrophobia, in a sense, and at first, it seemed that not even her friends’ encouraging calls, or gentle rubs, could break through.

“Camille and Sissi are on their way,” Milly announced. “Yolanda, too!”

“Thanks, Milly,” Odd smiled softly.

In no time at all, the three came running up to the group, kneeling down around Cassidy, as the others allowed the nurse access. Yolanda immediately began softly rubbing the psychic brunette’s back with one hand, and gently placing her other hand underneath her chest, cooing reassuringly.

“It’s okay, Cassidy,” she soothed. “Just relax, and take a few deep breaths. Everyone’s here to help you. It’s all in your mind. Just relax.”

Slowly, the nurse’s words started hammering away at the panic Cassidy experienced. Her vision clearing, the walls began to crumble all around her as she took one deep breath after another. _It's all in my mind… which means… I can finally fight back!_

Shaking her head, feeling as though she had fought off XANA’s melody of death, she looked around the corridor, finding herself surrounded by Yolanda, and her loving, caring friends. 

“Cassidy?” Yumi asked. “Are you okay?”

“I-I think so… I'm so sorry…” she whispered.

“Dear sister, it's not your fault,” Sissi reasoned. “Just breathe… William is getting changed.”

Camille nodded. “You're going to be okay, Cassidy.”

“We should have known that you would react that way, when you saw William in his XANAfied Warrior outfit,” Jeremie lamented.

Moments later, the boy in question returned, slowly and reluctantly walking up to the others. His clothes had been changed, and his face washed; gone was his XANAfied Warrior outfit, in favor of his former casual outfit, a black t-shirt over a red long-sleeved shirt, with blue jean pants. As he approached Cassidy, she could see the look of guilt plastered upon his features, upset that he had been the cause of her panic attack. He only hoped that neither she, nor the others, would tear him to shreds if he got within six feet of her.

However, much to his surprise, the opposite happened; as soon as her eyes beheld him, Cassidy felt relief rush to every inch of her being. She was glad that he had changed his clothes, as his current outfit was less likely to force painful memories before her mind’s eye. Instead, it led to a few happier ones, like the times she had ice cream with him. The psychic brunette smiled, almost launching herself at him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders.

“I guess I did a better job this time, huh, guys?” William chuckled.

Ulrich nodded, a grin slowly overtaking the concerned look his face held previously. “Much better.”

A smile found its way to Odd’s face, as well. “And look at Cat Girl! She seems to think so, too!”

The psychic brunette nodded, shaking in relief. “Just don't wear that thing again. That scared the heck out of me.”

“Don't worry, Cass. As soon as I can, I'm going to take that outfit to the Red Trail Crossroads and burn it!” William declared. “I may not be a pyromaniac, but I don't like that either.”

With Cassidy sufficiently calmed down, they made their way back through the makeshift corridor to the curtains behind the stage. Parting the curtains first, Jeremie felt there was no need to repeat the virtualization commands, as he had the first time he had “summoned” his friends to the stage; instead, he merely beckoned his friends to him. A series of whoops and cheers accompanied the Warriors’ return to the stage, everyone noticing their clothing had changed drastically; however, some curiosity permeated the audience, as they noticed William had changed into a casual outfit, instead of the black-themed outfit from XANA they were expecting, that the vortex had shown them.

Walking onto the stage behind Jeremie, Emily whispered something into Mr. Delmas's ear. The principal’s eyes widened, slightly, as he listened to the message, before bringing the microphone back up to his mouth.

“Due to circumstances beyond our control, William Dunbar is wearing his old school outfit, to lessen everyone's stress.”

A mixture of random murmurs was heard throughout the bleachers, the audience members’ reactions ranging from curious to unsure.

“And now, without further ado, we present the relatives of our heroic Lyoko Warriors,” Milly announced.

Looks of curiosity and surprise slowly overtook each of the Warriors in sequence, as their heads immediately turned toward the curtain behind the stage. Nearly the moment after, the curtain was parted once more, as Michael and Cadence Belpois stepped onto the stage, causing Jeremie’s face to jump; the two were followed by Bruno and Philipinna Stern, Takeo, Hiroki, and Cho Ishiyama, Alberico and Odette Della Robbia, plus their five daughters, Franz and Anthea Schaeffer, and James and Lily Dunbar. Mark and Katie Belpois soon followed, which excited Kaitlyn greatly, while behind them were Hector and Beatrice Belpois, bringing a smile to Patrick’s face.

Yet, as the others expressed surprise—especially in Ulrich’s case, as the boy was still getting used to a nicer, kinder version of his father—at the appearance of their parents, Cassidy began looking around, worry filling her face. The others were visited by their families, even at the hospital; where was her own?

After giving his mother and father a warm hug, Jeremie turned away from his mother’s embrace, before glancing over at the psychic brunette, flabbergasted that she was alone, once more. Michael and Cadence quickly noticed this, as well, their faces soon turning toward the curtain, hoping that by some random off-chance, her parents were simply running late.

“Cassidy?”

“Just when I think they would come…” she whispered, surrendering herself to the fact, “they…”

“They’ve gotta be coming,” Jeremie tried to reassure her. “Maybe they’re just running late; they did have to come from the United States, after all.”

“I know, but you know that they could only afford to send me here, remember? After getting registered here as a student, Mr. Delmas became my legal guardian, but reassured that he could try to get my parents over here as much as he could. But the visits became less and less, and I ended up having phone calls with my folks instead,” Cassidy sighed. “To hear that they came while I was in a coma, and not even staying before I woke up, I didn’t know what to think.”

“Well, I’m sure it wasn’t a decision they took lightly,” Michael commented.

“They had your sister to think of, Cassidy. And they had work to worry about, too,” Jeremie reassured.

“I don’t know if they know of my own exploits.”

Just as Cassidy finished, Mr. Delmas approached the psychic brunette, an unhappy look painting his face.

“I must apologize, Cassidy, dear,” he began, his voice carrying the same amount of disappointment as his features, “but your parents couldn’t afford to fly over here to see you. Nevertheless, they express their deepest regret, and send their best.

“However,” he then added, adding a glimmer of hope to his tone, “to make sure that you didn’t feel left out among your friends’ families, we’ve thought of the next best thing.”

Beside the principal, Sissi nodded, a smile blossoming on her features. “I know it’s not much, but… Cassidy, sweetie, if you want to… you can have us as a substitute for a little while.”

The psychic brunette’s face rose, the girl feeling quite touched by the offering. “Sister, thank you. I would love that very much.” She approached the former snob, wrapping her arms around her. “I don’t know how I could thank you two enough…”

Mr. Delmas approached the two, reassuringly rubbing the psychic brunette’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, my dear. Your reaction is thanks enough.”

Nearby, Odd took a moment to turn toward Cassidy, the grin on his face increasing as he watched the scene.

 _That’s fantastic!_ He thought to himself. _Now Cat Girl can be happy, too!_

Gently taking the microphone in his hands, the principal then announced, “And now, everyone, it is my extreme pleasure to present to you all, the highlights of our heroes’ journey to finish the evening off!”

Within the gym, each of the lights slowly dimmed, as a screen slowly descended from the roof. It soon stopped several feet from the floor, moments before a projector was fired up, projecting a film directly onto it.

 _“What about us? What do you think we’re doing, huh? Getting a suntan?”_ Odd asked, spinning to avoid the lasers before him and shooting his arrows.

 _“I sure hope I don’t get sun_ burnt _,”_ Cassidy quipped, firing her gun at a couple Kankrelats.

As they watched the replay of the mission, the wildcard and his novia couldn’t help but giggle at their interactions and respective comments.

 _“I feel a need to get out! Being in school is cool and all, but I need_ some _fresh_ ciudad _air!”_ Cassidy smiled.

 _“_ Ciudad _air?”_ Ulrich raised an eyebrow.

 _“City air, Ulrich. I'm sorry about my Spanish speaking skills!”_ the psychic brunette’s cheeks flooded red.

The samurai found himself blushing, yet chuckling slightly at his own initial misunderstanding, as he watched.

 _“How long have we got?”_ Aelita inquired, slightly leery about the possibility of the teleportation ending, before they could find the supercomputer.

“Um…f-fifty-two…no…twenty-six…uh, f-thirtee…thirteen minutes.”

_“The guy’s a comedian. And just where does he expect us to find a super computer…?”_

_“Behind that tree, Odd,”_ Cassidy pointed. _“My visions fail to tell a lie.”_

Aelita walked up to the tree and looked behind it. _“Good guess, Cassidy.”_ A factory complex was in Aelita’s line of vision. It was different than their factory, with a silo jutting out of the roof, solar paneling, and a dorm-like single-floor structure on the side, but it was a factory, nonetheless.

 _“Who’s guessin’?”_ Cassidy blinked.

Watching the film, Aelita giggled with a smile, remembering that day nearly vividly. She was still quite excited at the thought of being a polymorphic specter, and sometimes forgot how pinpoint-accurate her former first roommate’s visions could be.

Jeremie finished the wrapping on Jim’s knee. Cassidy advised while typing on her stories:

Vanessa had fear in her stomach, but fury at her heart. She didn’t know which emotion to feel.

She decided at fury. “I didn’t want this, and you were so determined to get me that you shot my brother with a tranquilizer dart to prove it. Do you want to know what I think of it? I think it is despicable. You worthless Danger trashes are despicable! You think you have got the Jewel when all along you are so power-hungry, you got nothing.”

Jim looked over her shoulder. _“Wow, McGuire. You have very good writing skills.”_

She grinned, modestly. _“It’s not too complicated.”_

Jim chuckled, as he looked down at Jeremie. “Does McGuire still write her stories, when you and your little friends aren’t busy savin’ the world?”

“She does, Jim,” Jeremie replied, returning the burly gym teacher’s gaze with a smile of his own. “She’s almost finished her first book, in fact.”

Jim’s grin increased, impressed by Cassidy’s progress. “Well, make sure she gets me a copy! I would love to read it, Belpois!”

“Incredible, Cassidy’s got a fan in the writing world,” Odd smiled, impressed with his novia.

“It’s a nibble at best, Odd,” she said, playfully and slightly pushing him. “He wouldn’t have found out if I hadn’t gotten sick.”

“See, Cat Girl?” Odd grinned reassuringly. “That day wasn’t so bad after all, was it?”

“At least Jim gave me something to help set my stomach straight.”

In the locker room, the barricade had been built.

 _“They’re getting in!”_ Sissi, Hiroki, and Johnny cried.

 _“Bring them on! The more the merrier. It takes more than some tin cans to scare Jim Morales!”_ He held his five-iron, keeping his class behind him.

Back in the Desert Sector, William looked around. **_Where is he? Franz Hopper should have shown himself by now._**

Suddenly, he heard a voice. _“Did you expect my father to show up and bail me out?”_ Aelita stood with her arms crossed. _“He won’t be coming today! Surprise! I can duplicate myself and my friend, too!”_

He began to conjure his zabanto, when two sharp pains suddenly entered his back. He turned around, eyes widening.

 _“And you can tell your master XANA that I’m not some weapon to be used,”_ Cassidy spat at him, standing over his disappearing body.

As soon as he did, her eyes widened. _“I can’t believe I did that!”_ A smile formed on her face. _“That was awesome!”_

The psychic brunette giggled, a blush flying across her cheeks.

Nearby, however, William grimaced, the film reminding him of yet another painful memory. As he glanced over at Cassidy, however, his face softened as he watched her reaction. What pleased him the most was that, despite the fact that it was his XANAfied self she was cheering the death of, she wasn’t cowering in fear, or having a panic attack; she was actually enjoying it, as well.

Back in the Ice Sector Replika, William dissolved into purple-black smoke and glided away. Ulrich stood confused for a moment, then moved to run.

 _“NO!”_ The foot came down upon him.

“I don’t believe this! Ulrich!”

In the scanner room, Ulrich collapsed.

In Siberia, the robot shot at Aelita three times, causing her to disappear in a flash of light.

“NO!”

Aelita reappeared in the cockpit of the NavSkid.

It was then that Cassidy stood, her satisfied smirk dissipating into an angered frown. _“HEY! William!”_

William looked at her. **_“Oh, someone finally used my name instead of Mr. Hated, huh?”_**

_“Only because I was afraid of you. What in the world is wrong with you?! You liked it when I was out of the game early!”_

**_“The feeling about ‘What in the world is wrong with you’ is mutual. Getting you out of the way later is just a bonus.”_ **

_“Someone’s garrulous today.”_

William walked closer. **_“It seems your vocabulary’s improved since the last time we battled.”_** Then he chuckled. **_“But it seems that you were tight in a corner.”_**

 _“Mostly because I feared you more than fear itself.”_ She circled him. _“Maybe you should have given me advance notice.”_

He grabbed her arm, smirking. _**“Where do you think you’re going?”**_

She grinned. _“Nowhere. Why? Do you have a prior commitment? I hear the proposal between you and your Schyphozoa swept the nation. XANA must be so proud.”_

In the lab, Jeremie snickered, wondering where she got her material. He assumed it could have been from everyone.

Cassidy looked at her XANAfied ex-boyfriend. _“You were absent a couple times. Did you have a fight with her and didn’t want to do your duty that you promised your master?”_

William growled, clenching his zabanto.

_“XANA must’ve been displeased, considering how punctual you usually are.”_

**_“Shut up…_** _”_ his jaw tightened.

_“Maybe you should make a Blok your pet. You seemed to be content with the one you pet as a wolf.”_

“Cassidy, are you sure you should be taunting him like this?”

_“I can’t tell you, Jeremie.”_

To William, she continued, _“You know…I’m sure the wedding is everything you desired, right down to the Panic! At the Disco songs on the PA. Boys will be boys…”_

He swiped across her middle. **_“SHUT UP!”_**

She disappeared in a cloud of pixilated squares.

He smiled, seeing his monster advance to the tower. **_“Victory!”_**

Suddenly he felt a burst of pain in his shoulder. He quickly turned to eye his assailant, as he disappeared in a cloud of red and black smoke.

 _“Better luck next time, handsome,”_ Odd winked, standing feet away from the monster.

In the lab, a window popped up on Jeremie’s computer screen, and a card filled in full. William’s image popped up in the blank upper part of it.

Jeremie’s jaw dropped as he let out a sound. Then he raised his fist, smiling. _“YEAH!”_

One by one, each of the Lyoko Warriors burst out laughing at this scene, like a falling chain of dominoes. They couldn’t believe how Cassidy could have come up with such a routine. Each of them wanted to assume Odd had given her the lines, but the psychic brunette had been known to come up with something nearly as funny, if not funnier than, the wildcard’s own jokes.

“Where’d you come up with such a ridiculous and crazy comedic setup?” Ulrich managed to squeeze out between chuckles.

“I just thought of it, and rehearsed it in the bathroom after everyone had gone to bed,” Cassidy cackled. “It went through several rough drafts. I just didn’t know when he would swipe his zabanto.”

“That was pretty good,” William agreed. “Even the _Panic! at the Disco_ songs, too. You sure Odd didn’t at least give you some inspiration?”

“William, it’s like what I told everyone who said something like that: Welcome to Lyoko!” she grinned.

Upon hearing this, the Warriors started laughing harder, some even clutching their stomachs as they howled with laughter. Cassidy had definitely hit the spot with that joke.

 


	10. The Ultimate and True Finale

**Hunter Moebius and I don’t own Code Lyoko or Kaitlyn Belpois**

Today was a day everyone had all been working up to; it was the day the Warriors were going to finally deal a crippling blow to XANA, and weaken him severely. Before the appearance of the vortex, Jeremie had started building a program for this exact purpose, based off information that Cassidy had predestined, which allowed him to make sure that nobody would be harmed, unlike what the vortex showed had happened in the previous timeline, before Cassidy appeared. The entire process took several weeks, before finishing with one caveat: it would require nearly all of the Supercomputer’s resources to power it up. But compared to sacrificing Franz Schaeffer, it was worth it, especially to Aelita and her mother, Anthea.

A plan was soon hatched, which would involve the setting up, and the execution, of the program. Jeremie assumed that XANA would be waiting for them on the Ice Replika, where they had originally lost the Skidbladnir to the Kolossus.

And how right he was. The group drew straws over who would go to the Replika, and who would go to Sector Five to protect Aelita. The shortest ones drawn—Yumi, Ulrich, William, and Cassidy—went to the copy of the Ice Sector, while the longest—Kaitlyn, Patrick, Sissi, Franz, and Odd—went to where XANA’s memory was stored with the elven pinkette.

It wasn’t long before the Kolossus arrived. XANA soon became curious about the supposed plan, and diverted as many of his aggregated resources that he had collected from his Supercomputers into the gigantic creature, in hopes of stopping any possible retaliation before it could get very far. But Jeremie was already beginning the first phase of his plan, which involved Aelita siphoning resources from the Supercomputer, via the terminal in Sector Five, into the blond genius’ program, preparing to target the creature. All the others would have to do was keep it occupied until Jeremie was ready.

 _“Hurry up, guys!”_ the blond genius yelled over the intercom.  

With every step, the Kolossus began to move slower and slower, as its body began to pixelate, fading in and out, as they continued their work.

“We’re doing our best, Einstein,” Cassidy shouted to the air. “It’s no picnic over here. Especially with this monster! Ulrich is still making the climb in case of—GAH!”

Before she could finish her sentence, Cassidy soon found herself underneath the Kolossus’ gigantic foot, causing her to instantly dissipate in a cloud of pixilated dust.

“E-emergency…” she groaned as her scanner opened, before she staggered out. “A-are you s-sure that we w-won’t lose—”

 _“No, it’s going to work, Cassidy,”_ Jeremie reassured her. _“I’m sure of it.”_

“I’m going to keep you at your word, but if he…has to, I’m never going to Lyoko ever again! I don’t care how much you all need me. I’ll just be your go between from that point,” she growled, ambling over to the elevator.

_“Oh, you won’t have to worry about that. He’s not going to, and I’m going to make sure he doesn’t.”_

“Lucky you made a corporeal humanoid form for him, huh, Einstein?” she smiled, pressing the button to go up.

_“Yes. And thanks to us using resources from Sector Five, too, we’ll be able to weaken XANA.”_

The freight elevator ride up to the computer lab was short, and soon Cassidy joined Jeremie by the Supercomputer.

“Thanks for doing this for me. I would hate to make Aelita intensely sad for repeating history,” the psychic brunette nodded. “Especially since she just got him back a while ago.”

“Don’t mention it,” Jeremie momentarily glanced over at her, with a smirk on his face. “I don’t want Franz Schaeffer to die any more than you or Aelita do.”

“Plus with you two working round the clock to at least weaken him until we can regain Lyoko’s strength to defeat him for real, this will be great to do,” she giggled. “I may not be proud of unleashing the monster, but I’m glad that it messed with events just enough that we could work like this.”

“And I’m glad you told me about the alternate timeline, so that we could find a way to destroy XANA, without anyone having to give up their residual energy.”

“Yeah. Plus, it’s going to be great! Is it okay if I hug you after all this is over? I know that you’re not that type, but—”

He grinned, again. “After this is all over, we’ll have a gigantic group hug.”

She nodded, before turning her attention back to the screen. “Look! The Kolossus has completely disappeared!” A gigantic grin blossomed across her features, threatening to separate her chin from the rest of her face. “And Ulrich’s still on the Replika, safe and sound.”

“It’s working…” Jeremie whispered and smiled.

 _“Jeremie,”_ a window appeared on the screen, showing Aelita’s ID card, along with sound bars that moved whenever she talked, _“I’ve rerouted enough energy from Sector Five to your destruction program.”_

“Way to go, Aelita!” Cassidy cheered. “The Kolossus has disappeared from the Ice Sector Replika.”

“You guys are doing great!” Jeremie exclaimed. “And now, for the finishing touches…”

“Finishing touches?” Cassidy’s smile began to droop, slightly.

“With the last bit of energy Aelita just transferred to my program, I can finally run the last routine, which will directly attack XANA,” Jeremie turned to look at her, getting visibly excited at his own words.

“Oh, I almost thought there was something different you were talking about. I got a little worried there, Jeremie,” she chuckled.

“It’s fine,” Jeremie nodded, still smiling. “And here we go…”

Quickly, the blond genius returned to his keyboard, furiously typing in the commands for the last portion of his program.

“This is so exciting…” Cassidy felt her excitement rise, once more. “To think that we’re going to…”

“Yes! It’s working!” he shouted. “Franz Schaeffer, you are a genius!”

“And so are you, Jeremie,” she winked.

Jeremie stopped, momentarily, as a blush began to fill his cheeks, bookending his smile. It didn’t last long, and he soon returned to his keyboard.

 _“The final calculations are set, Jeremie,”_ Aelita announced. _“Ready when you are.” Proxy-pie._

Hearing Aelita’s thoughts caused Cassidy to squeeze her eyes shut, her excited smile threatening to swallow up the rest of her face. She absolutely loved reading Aelita’s and Jeremie’s cute thoughts about each other, as they always caused great excitement within her; this was no exception.

“That’s great, Aelita.” _First her father comes out of the scanner, then her mother follows, we are roommates… Can things get any better between us?_

 _I think I hear a promise ring and wedding bells, Einstein,_ Cassidy thought, knowing he wouldn’t be able to hear it, a silent giggle shaking her body.

Jeremie soon noticed her expression, as he looked up at her. “What’s on your mind?”

“Nothing…” she chuckled, bleating like a goat. “Just thinking of a joke Odd said.”

Jeremie chortled, shaking his head. To him, only Cassidy would laugh at a joke Odd had made, more than once. “Ya don’t say!”

“Hey! The Replika’s starting to disappear! Time to bring the gang in from there.” She pointed excitedly.

“Good idea!” Jeremie’s fingers leaped into action, soon becoming a blur across the Supercomputer’s keyboard. “Materialization, Ulrich! Materialization, Yumi! Materialization, William!”

In the Scanner Room, the doors to the cabins opened. “Well done, William! You did really great this time!” Yumi praised.

“Yeah!” Ulrich agreed. “You did exactly what we told you to do, and you didn’t go off and do your own thing.”

“I owe it to Cass up there,” William pointed to the ceiling. “Even if she hid in an invisibility cloak for the first few moments.”

 _“Old habits die hard,”_ Cassidy muttered sheepishly.

“Don’t worry, Cassidy,” Yumi smiled, reassuringly. “We understand.”

_“Plus, he was in a modified version of his old XANA outfit. I had to remember that he was on our side. Thank goodness for Yolanda.”_

“Yeah.” Ulrich nodded. “She really came in handy, there.”

“Sorry, Cass.” William felt his cheeks heat up. “I hope you didn’t have a panic attack.”

_“I didn’t, thanks to her method that saved me the last time.”_

_“Guys! We’re almost there!”_ Jeremie cried out excitedly.

“Really?!” Yumi’s voice, and face, rose in excitement. “How close are we?!”

 _“Replikas are disappearing left and right!”_ Cassidy announced. _“Holy shiitake mushrooms! This is crazy!”_

“Don't let Odd hear that. He'll want to eat some,” Ulrich quipped, to which Yumi chuckled.

 _“This is incredible!”_ Jeremie exclaimed. _“My program is working even better than expected!!”_

 _“Jeremie, I’m so excited!!”_ Cassidy squealed.

The excitement soon got to Ulrich, Yumi, and William as well, as the three quickly boarded the freight car, and rode it up to the computer lab, soon joining Jeremie and Cassidy around the Supercomputer in under a minute’s time.

“I can’t believe this. This has got to be the most amazing thing since… the monster had been unleashed,” Jeremie beamed.

“Thanks for being careful with your words, Einstein,” Cassidy commented, smiling at the blond genius.

“I couldn’t have done this without Franz helping me out along the way,” the young programmer nodded.

“And this time he is out in the open to help out,” Yumi agreed, ruffling the psychic brunette’s hair.

The girl giggled, her heart revving up in excitement. “I just can’t…”

 _“How are things on your end, Jeremie?”_ Aelita’s angelic voice wafted through the Supercomputer’s speakers.

“Incredible! The program is running incredibly well!” Jeremie grinned from ear to ear. “How are you and the others holding up?”

 _“Sissi’s taken damage, but she’s still standing. Odd’s still flying around, getting rid of Mantas,”_ Aelita replied. _“Patrick is helping him, while Kaitlyn’s still standing guard with Daddy and me.”_

“I see, Sissi’s down to sixty life points. Be careful, Sissi! Two more shots from a Manta, and it’ll be game over!” Jeremie warned.

On Lyoko, Sissi adopted a sheepish grin. She had become a cheerleader, wearing a pink outfit that had gold assets, and carrying a matching baton, which she could use as a weapon. “Sorry, Jeremie. They only hit me because I wasn’t paying enough attention.”

 _“Don’t worry about it. Just be careful, and follow what the others tell you, okay?”_ Jeremie announced.

“Other than that hit, she’s been holding her own, cuz,” Kaitlyn smiled. “She even made it past the Creepers without being hit.”

_“That’s great! Keep up the good work, Sissi!”_

_“Yeah, Sister, I’m proud of you!”_ Cassidy announced over the Celestial Dome.

“Thanks, dear sister. Makes me wish I could fight alongside you here,” she beamed, throwing her baton at a Manta. “Too bad that Sam didn’t want to join us. She’s only been here a month.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Kaitlyn soothed. “Maybe next time he attacks, she would like to come.”

Nearby, Aelita continued manipulating data on the holographic terminal, with her father, Franz, close by, supervising her progress.

Jeremie watched the development from his screen, while she continued. “We’re so close now… Keep going, Aelita and Franz.”

_“Roger, Jeremie. Still working on transferring the remaining resources. I’m rerouting additional power, just in case.”_

“Just be careful how much power you use. We want to keep Lyoko running, too,” Yumi cautioned.

_“Don’t worry. Lyoko will still have plenty of energy left, even after I’m done.”_

“Thank you, Aelita. We are so close, I can feel it,” Cassidy smiled.

 _“Just one—wait! It’s there! We got it!”_ Aelita joyously cried.

Jeremie’s smile threatened to swallow his entire face. “That’s great!! Nice one, Aelita!!”

That one action rendered Cassidy unable to speak temporarily. Instead, she squealed and jumped around, happy to hear what her former first roommate just told the lab.

“Einstein, I think our psychic’s just lost her lid,” Ulrich cracked, attempting to put a cap over his laughter.

“She’s probably just overloaded from all of the excitement.” The blond genius turned to the German-named boy. “I’d give her time. She’ll come out of it.”

“I have never seen her this worked up since the time we finally found the key to materializing Aelita,” Yumi giggled.

“You’re right,” Jeremie nodded, giving her his attention this time. “Can you believe how far we’ve come, since then?”

Cassidy shook her head, her intense feelings of excitement continuing to overload her being.

Nearby, as he watched, William was becoming more and more concerned.

“Uh, guys?” he started, fear starting to overtake his voice. “Are you sure Cass isn’t gonna—”

Suddenly, as if his words were a trigger, the psychic brunette collapsed on the floor, her eyes slowly closing as her vision faded to black.

“…pass out,” he finished, deflated.

Yumi gasped, looking at her downed Savior in worry. She knelt down and pressed her middle and ring fingers on her wrist, her anxieties melting away when the psychic brunette’s pulse pumped at a regular rate. “She’s just passed out. She’ll wake up.”

“Let’s hope it doesn’t take three months, huh?” The black-haired boy put his hands akimbo.

In reply, the room went silent, as Ulrich, Jeremie, and Yumi glared at him with their eyes half-open. They didn’t find his attempt at a joke funny in the slightest.

“I’ll make the final adjustments!” the blond Einstein growled, turning back to the Supercomputer, before his fingers flew over the keyboard.

“Guys, I wasn’t even making a joke.” William put his hands up defensively.

“I don’t care!” Ulrich narrowed his eyes at the black-haired boy, very displeased. “We don’t _ever_ want that to happen _again!_ ”

Yumi folded her arms, giving William a similar look of displeasure. “You shouldn’t even be taking that sort of thing lightly. All of us want to forget it even happened!”

“You’re the ones that don’t get it,” William shot back. “When I heard that Cassidy had fallen into her coma, I worried about her in my room. I still think that vortex was some sort of dream to me, like a revelation. I messed up big time, when I broke up with her. Now I want to fix what I destroyed, even if we just stay good friends.”

“William, it’s okay. We worried about her at the hospital, as well, but that still stung,” Ulrich sighed. William had a point; even though he hadn’t been Cassidy’s boyfriend for a year or more, after they had freed him from XANA’s control, he realized the gigantic mistake he had made, which had led to him breaking up with her, and found that he still cared about her, whether or not she returned those feelings.

“Yeah, I get it.” William rubbed the back of his neck apologetically. “Sorry, guys.”

“It’s fine, William,” Jeremie accepted the apology for the others, focusing more on the keyboard than the black-haired boy. “Now I just need to finish the final adjustments…”

Just as he did that, Cassidy’s eyelids twitched, cracking open. “Uh… huh?! W-what did I miss…?”

“You didn’t miss anything at all, Cassidy,” Ulrich smiled, glad that she had regained consciousness. “You’re still just in time.”

“Yeah!” Yumi walked over to the psychic brunette, before kneeling down by her head, smiling warmly. “Jeremie’s just about to finish the final adjustments, so we can finally weaken XANA.”

“I’m glad I’m not going to skip this moment,” she giggled, rising to a sitting position. “I missed so much.”

“Well, you’re just in time for this,” Jeremie declared, moments before he pressed the Enter key. “The final adjustments are finished!”

“Awesome!” the samurai shouted.

Just then, Aelita’s voice wafted through the Supercomputer’s speakers, as Yumi helped her Savior to her feet. _“That’s wonderful! I’ll stay here and monitor the power transfer, just in case.”_

With the finishing touches on the XANA weakening program in place, everything seemed to be working smoothly. The power drain on the Supercomputer, especially from Sector Five, stayed within normal boundaries. In the computer lab, everyone’s eyes were glued to a progress bar on the center monitor, showing what appeared to be XANA’s remaining total resources, as they slowly depleted, while Jeremie continued to type. It seemed as though everything was going to go off without a hitch.

As she watched, Cassidy was struck by a slight curiosity. “Hey, Jeremie. If that weird tower was still active, and we tried this, do you think that it would’ve… um… done harm to me?”

Jeremie turned to look at her, momentarily, his face showing confusion. “I’m not sure. Given your reaction to Aelita’s attempts to deactivate it, I would hope nothing out of the ordinary would happen, but there’s really no way to know for sure.”

Satisfied, Cassidy nodded, a smile returning to her face. “I was just wondering. It hit me at random.”

The blond genius nodded, soon returning his attention to the Supercomputer in front of him. “That’s okay. It’s better that we don’t have to find out the answer firsthand.”

“That’s true. Plus, I wasn’t in the right mindset, either. I was still learning how to walk, and some pieces weren’t making sense—and some don’t make sense, now. However, we’re still working on stuff,” she grinned.

The Einstein, once again, nodded. It had been a crazy several months since the psychic brunette had emerged from her coma. She had to relearn certain basic motor functions, such as how to walk, but the nurses, along with Odd, Aelita, Yumi, and Sissi, were there to help her every step of the way. Then came the threat of the tower on the weird Replika, which had been based off an older design of the Desert Sector. He remembered how scared she had been of taking the Skidbladnir by herself.

Since they had used the scanners for purposes other than virtualization and materialization to great effect in the past, for things such as her Dream Barrier Destroyer, and his so-called “Reverse Schyphozoa”, he correctly assumed it would be easy to transfer bits of the others’ courage to her. They weren’t expecting her reaction, though. He recalled wondering if the scanner had focused too much on Ulrich, as she suddenly possessed similar tendencies to the samurai. But thankfully, once she had deactivated the tower, and its subsequent explosion sent her back to Earth in one piece, the effects mysteriously wore off. Still, it was quite an adventure for all of them, not in the least for Cassidy.

Odd’s ID card suddenly appeared on the center monitor, next. _“Einstein, the Mantas are disappearing!”_

Jeremie’s face rose, with excitement. “That’s great! Is anything happening to Sector Five, or the Celestial Dome?”

Aelita’s ID card appeared next, as if on cue. _“Nothing’s happened to anything else, just yet. We all seem to be fine, here.”_

“That’s great, Aelita,” Yumi grinned.

Soon, monsters all over Sector Five were disappearing into pixels, one by one. An army of Creepers had been dispatched from the Core Zone, in hopes of attacking Aelita and the others from behind, while the elven princess stood at the holographic terminal, but before they could reach the Celestial Dome, they began to dissolve into pixels, one after the other. Replikas continued exploding left and right, all over the Internet. XANA was losing more and more of his energy.

Soon, all the Replikas were destroyed. Blip after blip on the holoweb vanished, before none remained.

“Franz?! Are you okay?” Cassidy asked, some of her anxiety rising despite her excitement.

In moments, Franz’s card popped up. _“I’m okay, young angel. I’m still here on Lyoko with Aelita and the others.”_

A large grin overtook Cassidy’s face, moments before the psychic brunette fell to the ground, once more, the excitement overloading her. Jeremie’s eyebrows rose when he heard the clatter, but instead focused on rematerializing everyone, three by three, knowing that Ulrich, Yumi, and William would be able to tend to her.

Once Sissi had made it to the lab, her eyes beheld her fallen “sister.” “Cassidy! Are you okay?! What happened to her?!”

“She passed out, after she heard that Aelita’s father had made it out okay,” Yumi stated calmly.

“I knew she shouldn’t have had that hot chocolate this morning! She was very hyper afterward. Hmph! Rosa makes hers so sugary.” The principal’s daughter folded her arms against her chest.

“But the main thing is that XANA is weakened,” Jeremie declared, whirling the chair around to face his friends with a grin on his face. “Now we won’t have to worry about him for a long time!”

Odd raised a fist, a huge grin upon his features. “YEAH!”

Yumi and Ulrich high-fived each other, before she pulled him into an excited hug. Aelita wrapped her arms around Jeremie, before excitedly kissing his cheek. William did a fist pump, grinning from ear to ear. Patrick and Kaitlyn high-fived each other, as well. Franz and Anthea cuddled each other, before sharing a kiss, and Sissi hugged her unconscious “sister.”

The happiness in the computer lab threatened to blow the roof off of the factory. With XANA’s power phenomenally weakened, it would be a very long time before he would ever try to challenge them again.

At least, that’s what they hoped.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Cassidy's Brother](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10524810) by [LyokoFan (JanneKek)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/JanneKek/pseuds/LyokoFan), [TeenLyokoFan7777](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TeenLyokoFan7777/pseuds/TeenLyokoFan7777)
  * [Cassidy's first time flying](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10549632) by [LyokoFan (JanneKek)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/JanneKek/pseuds/LyokoFan), [TeenLyokoFan7777](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TeenLyokoFan7777/pseuds/TeenLyokoFan7777)




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